^^RV  OF  PR)«c?^ 


Children's  Missionary 
Story-Sermons 


WORKS  BT 

HUGH  T.  KERR,  P.  D. 

The  Gospel  in  Modern  Poetry. 

A  keen,  thoughtful  analysis  of  some  of  the  best-known 
modern  poems  and  the  gospel  message  they  bear 
for  the  life  of  our  own  day.  The  poems  are  by  the 
followmg :  Alice  Meynell ;  William  Carruth ; 
Francis  Thompson;  Gilbert  K.  Chesterton;  Alan 
Seeger  ;  W.E.  Henley  ;  Walter  De  La  Mare  ;  Rud- 
yard  Kipling ;  Richard  Le  Gallienne ;  Joaquin 
Miller ;  Vachel  Lindsay  ;  John  Masefield ;  Ed- 
win Markham  ;  Thomas  Hardy  ;  Dorothy  Frances 
Gurney;  and  Cale  Young  Rice    ....     $1.50 

Children^ s  Nature  Story- Sermons. 

"  Dr.  Kerr  takes  his  t3Xts  from  nature,  and  presents 
truth  in  such  a  way  that  the  truth  soon  grips  the 
imagination  of  the  child  and  through  the  imagina- 
tion it  reaches  the  heart." — Presbyterian  Standard. 

$1.50 

ChildrerHs  Gospel  Story- Sermo7is. 

"  These  are  Story-Serm.ons.  They  are  not  stories  and 
must  not  be  so  judged.  Sometimes  they  '  tag 
a  moral  to  a  tale.'  They  are  not  sermons  and  must 
not  be  tested  by  the  one,  two,  three,  method  of 
the  classroom  or  the  pulpit." — Christian  V/ork. 

$1.50 

Children's  Missionary  Story- Sermons. 

"  Told  in  simple,  yet  engrossing  fashion,  the  story  of 
missionary  heroism  becomes  in  Dr.  Kerr's  capable 
hands  a  realm  of  veritable  romance  in  which  deeds 
of  knightly  valor  are  done  in  the  name  of  the  great 
king." — The  Continent  ....--  $1.50 

Children^ s   Story-Sermons. 

"  The  story  sermons  are  so  attractive,  so  simple,  so 

full  of  action,  and  interest  and  incident,  that  they 

are  not  only  good  to  read  aloud,  but  the  child  will 

be  glad  to  read  them  again  and  again  by  himself." 

—  Sunday  School  Times $1.50 


Children's  Missionary 
Story-Sermons 


By 
HUGH   T.  KERR,  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  Shadyside  Presbyterian  Church, 
Pittsburgh 


New  York         Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming   H.  Revell  Company 


London 


Edinburgh 


Copyright,  19 15,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


PRINTED   IN  THE   UNITED  STATES   OF   AMERICA 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
l^ondon :  2 1  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:      75    Princes     Street 


To 

Donald  Craig 

and 

His  Dear  Mother 


Foreword 

It  was  Victor  Hugo  who  said  that  the 
Eighteenth  Century  distinguished  itself  by 
the  discovery  of  Man,  but  the  glory  of  the 
Nineteenth  Century  was  the  discovery  of 
Woman.  Were  he  among  us  to-day  he 
would  complete  his  interpretation  of  history 
by  saying  that  the  Twentieth  Century  be- 
longs to  the  Child.  This  is  the  Children's 
Century.  Anything,  therefore,  that  will  help 
the  children  find  their  place  in  the  coming 
work  of  the  world  is  worth  while,  and  what 
work  can  compare  with  that  of  winning  the 
world  for  Christ  ? 

It  was  to  interest  children,  first  in  the  won- 
derful lives  of  the  missionaries  themselves, 
and  then  in  their  great  work — the  greatest 
work  in  the  world — that  these  Story-Sermons 
were  written.  They  grew  out  of  a  felt  need 
in  my  own  church  work.  Leaders  of  Mission 
Bands  and  Lightbearer  Circles  and  teachers 
of  Sunday-school  classes  were  at  a  loss  to 
discover  a  method  of  approach  to  the  mis- 
sionary problem.  Much  of  the  missionary 
literature  prepared  for  children  is  from  the 
5 


6  Foreword 

adult  point  of  view  and  much  is  vague  and 
indefinite.  I  trust  this  missionary-method 
may  be  of  some  help  to  those  whose  hearts 
have  been  given  to  the  children  and  the 
world's  need. 

In  writing  this  companion  volume  to  the 
"  Children's  Story-Sermons  "  which  has  met 
with  such  a  friendly  welcome,  I  have  kept 
before  me  two  things  :  the  difficulty  of  inter- 
esting children  in  missions  and  the  necessity 
of  introducing  them  to  the  great  leaders  of 
the  modern  missionary  crusade.  I  have 
therefore  tried  to  put  before  them  authentic 
missionary  information  in  definite  story  form, 
so  as  to  appeal  to  the  child  mind  and  at  the 
same  time  I  have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  master  missionaries  of  the  Church.  In 
remembering  the  story  there  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve the  missionary  will  not  be  forgotten. 

The  Story-Sermons  here  told  have  been 
approved  by  the  children  themselves.  They 
are  always  the  preacher's  and  the  teacher's 
self-appointed  critics,  and  they  alone,  in  their 
own  country,  can  unfailingly  sift  reality  from 
theory,  the  wheat  from  the  chafT. 

Hugh  T.  Kerr, 

Shadysidet  Pittsburgh^  Pa, 


Contents 

I.  The  Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mustard 

Seed     .  ,  .  .  .  .     .        II 

Count  Zinzendorf's  Mission  Band. 

II.  Under  the  Haystack    .  .  .  .15 

The     Missionary     Patiifinder — Samuel 
J.  Mills. 

III.  The  Knotted  Handkerchief  .  ,        19 

John  Eliot  and  His  Praying  Indians. 

IV.  The  Golden  Chariot   .  .  .  ,23 

Thf^"  Calling  of  Alexander  DufF. 

V.  The  Boat  that  was  Shipwrecked    .  .     25 

Alexander  Duff's  Voyage  to  [ndia. 

VI.  The  Indian  Interpreter  ...        28 

David  Brainerd's  Right  Hand  Man. 

VII.  Kapiolani  the  Brave      .  .  .  •        3I 

The  Christian  Oueen  of  Hawaii. 

VIII.  President  Cleveland  AND  the  Dog  Story        36 

Dr.  Egerton  R.  Young  at  the  White  House. 

IXo         "Jolly  Good  Fun"       ....        41 
Dr    Grenfell  of  the  Labrador. 

X.  The  Moving  Picture    ....       45 

The  influence  of  Henry  Martyn. 

XI.  The  Prison  Pillow        ....        47 

Adoniram  Judson  and  the  Burmese  Bible, 

XII.  The  Sailor's  Friend       .  .  ,  ,        52 

The  Cultured  Wife  of  Dr.  Griffith  John. 

XIII.  The  Champion  Bicycle  Rider         ,  .        56 

How  Ion  Keith- Falconer  Found  the  Path. 

7 


8 


Contents 


XIV.  The  Trunk  that  Came  Home     .         »      6o 

William  C.  Burns  of  China. 

XV.  The  Little  Girl  of  the  Hills  ,         .       63 

Dr.  John  L.  Ncvius  and  the  Chinese 
Famine. 

XVI.  The  Gift  that  Came  Back         ,         .       tj 

The    Chinese    Friend    of  Dr.  John 
L.  Nevius. 

XVII.  A  Story  About  Stockings  .  .       70* 

The  Friendly  Life  of  Fidelia  Fiskc. 

XVIII.  A  Poet's  Strange  Dream   .  .  •    .  73 

Rabindranath  Tagore  of  Bengal. 

XIX.  A  Little  Boy  Among  Savages  .         ,       76 

A   Forgotten    Name — Rev.    Thomas 
Toomey. 

XX.  The  Lion  that  Ran  Away  •         .80 

David  Livingstone — Africa's 
Great-heart. 

XXI.  When  Livingstone  Was  Lost      .  .        83 

How  Stanley  Found  Livingstone. 

XXII.  The  Man  Who  Died  on  His  Knees      .        87 

The  Coronation  of  David  Livingstone. 

XXIII.  The  Story  of  a  Pair  of  Boots    .  .       91 

Alexander  MacKay's  Call  to  Uganda. 

XXIV.  The  Slave  Boy  Missionary  .  .        97 

Alexander  MacKay's  First  Convert. 

XXV.  Homeless!  .         .         .         .         .100 

Bishop  Tucker — The  Artist  Mission- 
ary. 

XXVI.  Chief  Africaner  .  .  .  •      IO3 

Robert  Moffat — The  Pioneer. 


Contents 


XXVII.  A  Great  Chief's  Funeral      .         .     io6 

A  Story  from  Robert  Laws  of  Iiv» 
ingstonia. 

XXVIII.  The  Tolling  Bell         .         .         .109 

The  Homegoing  of  Dr.  Hepburn. 

XXIX.  A  Wise  Man  of  the  East       .  •      I'S 

Father  Okuno,  the  Friend  of  Dr. 
Hepburn. 

XXX.  The  Devil's  Society      .         .         .      I16 

Sherwood     Eddy  —  The    College 
Missionary* 

XXXI.  The  Kitchen  God         .         .         .120 

Charlotte  E.  Hawes  of  China. 

XXXII.  Twice  a  Hero       .  .         .         .124 

The     Martyr    Missionary  —  John 
Coleridge  Patteson. 

XXXIII.  The  Consecrated  Cobbler     .         .129 

William  Carey — The  Hero  of  India. 

XXXIV.  No  Room  for  Barbarians        .  ,132 

MacKay  of  Canada  and  Formosa. 

XXXV.  A  Bible  Lost  at  Sea       .  .  .136 

Dr.    Verbeck — The     Christian 
Knight. 

XXXVI.  Queen    Victoria    and    the    Little 

Slave  Girl  .  .  .  .140 

Samuel     Crowther  —  The    Negro 
Bishop. 

XXXVII.  The   Missionary  With  the  White 

Hair  ....      I44 

John  G.  Paton  of  the  New  Hebrides. 

XXXVIII.  The  Wonderful  Well  .  .149 

One  of  John  G.  Paton's  Triumphs. 

XXXIX.  The  Bride's  Trousseau     .  .  •      155 

One  of  John  G.  Paton's  Trials. 


lO 


Contents 


XL.  A  Little  Girl's  Surprise  .  •      l6o 

A  True  Talc  of  Robert  Morrison. 

XLL  The  Chip  that  Could  Talk     .         .163 

The  Fine  Faith  of  John  Williams. 

XLIL         A  Boy  Who  Had  Three  Names  .      167 

Neesima — The  Japanese-American. 

XLin.        How  A  Japanese  Boy  Learned  to  Pray     172 
A    Strange    Story    of  Joseph  Hardy 

Neesima. 

XLIV.         The  Story  of  Old  Mother  Wang    .      175 
A  Chinese  Native  Worker. 

XLV.  The  Child  Leader  .  .         .         .178 

Dan    Crawford   Who    "  Thinks  in 
Black." 

XLVL         A  Great  Queen's  Birthday       .  .182 

The  Empress  Dowager  of  China. 

XLVIL       A  Boy  Who  Answered  God's  Call    .      186 
James  Chalmers — The    Great    Man 
of  the  Pacific. 

XLVin.     A  Mother's   Prayer   and  Its  Answer      191 
The  Conversion  of  Hudson  Taylor. 

XLIX.         A  SiORY  OF  Half  a  Crown        .  .196 

The  Consecration  of  Hudson  Taylor. 

L.  Nyi,  the  Cotton  Merchant    .         '199 

Hudson  Taylor  of  Inland  China. 

LL  In  a  Chinese  Guest  Hall  .  .     202 

Hudson  Taylor's  Basket  Maker. 

LIL  A  Christmas  Story  .  .  .     205 

The  Land  of  Adolphus  C.  Good. 

LIIL  The  Boy  Who  Answered  "  Ready  !  '*     209 

Robert  E.  Speer's  Call  for  Volunteers. 

LIV.  The  Children  of  Everyland     .  .      214 

The  World's  Children  for  Jesus. 


I 

The  Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mustard 

Seed 
**  A  grain  of  mustard  seed." — Matthew  xiii.  31. 

The  first  Children's  Mission  Band  that  1 
know  anything  about  was  started  just  about 
two  hundred  years  ago.  It  was  called  "  The 
Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mustard  Seed.'"  We 
do  not  call  our  Mission  Bands  by  such  long 
names.  We  call  them,  **  The  Mizpah  Band/' 
"The  Travellers,"  ''The  Busy  Bees,"  "The 
Silver  Links,"  "  The  Golden  Links,"  "  The 
Lightbearers,"  but  this  first  Mission  Band 
was  called  "  The  Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mus- 
tard Seed.' 

Perhaps  you  can  guess  why  it  was  called 
by  such  a  strange  name.  You  remember, 
Jesus  was  one  day  speaking  about  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  and  how  it  would  begin 
small,  with  a  few  fisher-folk,  and  then  as  the 
years  went  by  it  would  grow  bigger  and 
stronger  until  it  would  cover  the  whole  earth 
and  this  is  what  He  said  : 
II 


12     Children's  Missionary  Story- Sermons 

"  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like  to  a 
grain  of  mustard  seed  which  a  man  took 
and  sowed  in  his  field  ;  Which  indeed  is 
the  least  of  all  seeds,  but  when  it  is 
grown,  it  is  the  greatest  among  herbs 
and  becometh  a  tree,  so  that  the  birds  of 
the  air  come  and  lodge  in  the  branches 
thereof." 


That  is  why  this  first  little  Mission  Band 
was  called  The  Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mus- 
tard Seed.    I  think  it  is  a  good  name. 

Now,  the  strangest  thing  about  this  Mission 
Band  that  was  started  away  over  in  Europe 
two  hundred  years  ago  is  that  it  was  started 
by  a  boy.  Most  of  the  Mission  Bands  I 
know  about  were  started  by  grown-ups,  but 
this  one  was  thought  out  and  started  by  a 
little  lad  himself.  And  then,  most  Mission 
Bands  belong  to  the  girls  for  boys  are  sort 
of  shy  of  missionary  meetings,  except  when 
there  is  ice-cream  and  cake,  but  The  Order 
of  the  Grain  of  Mustard  Seed  was  started 
by  a  boy  and  for  boys.  He  was  ten  years 
old  when  it  was  organized  and  it  grew  into 
one  of  the  greatest  missionary  organizations 
in  the  world,  for  it  really  was  the  beginning 
of  what  we  now  call  the  Moravian  Church 
which  has  missionaries  in  all  parts  of  the 
world  and  is  the  greatest  Missionary  Church 


The  Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mustard  Seed    13 

in  the  world,  for  one  out  of  every  sixty  of  its 
members  is  a  foreign  missionary. 

The  little  lad's  name  was  Zinzendorf. 
Many  never  heard  his  first  name  and  some 
of  us  perhaps  think  he  had  no  first  name. 
But  he  had,  and  it  was  Nicolaus.  No  one 
ever  called  him  by  his  first  name,  however, 
unless  it  was  his  mother.  He  was  a  prince 
and  belonged  to  an  ancient  noble  family  in 
Austria  and  everybody  called  him  "  Count," 
and  even  to-day  when  any  one  speaks  about 
him  and  uses  his  name  it  is  always  "  Count " 
— Count  Zinzendorf,  The  first  thing  the 
members  of  The  Order  of  the  Grain  of  Mus- 
tard Seed  were  pledged  to  do  was  this  :  "  The 
members  of  our  society  will  love  the  whole 
human  race."  That  was  a  good  missionary 
pledge. 

When  Count  Zinzendorf  was  a  little  lad  he 
loved  Jesus.  Before  he  was  six  years  old  he 
wrote  out  and  signed  this  simple  pledge : 

Be  Thou  mine. 

Dear  Saviour, 

And  I  will  be  Thine. 

On  his  coat  of  arms  he  bore  the  motto, 
"  Our  Lamb  has  won ;  let  us  follow  Him." 
That  motto  became  the  battle  cry  of  his 
people  and  into  many  lands  they  have  gone. 


14     Children's  Missionary  Story- Sermons 

following  their  Leader  Count  Zinzendorf 
followed  faithfully.  If  you  will  look  in  the 
hymnal  which  is  used  in  the  church,  you 
will  find  a  beautiful  hymn  w^hicb  Count 
Nicolaus  L.  Von  Zinzendorf  wrote  and  which 
tells  us  how  truly  he  tried  to  follow 

**  Jesus,  still  lead  on. 
Till  our  rest  be  won  ; 
And  although  the  way  be  cheerless, 
We  will  follow  calm  and  fearless ; 
Guide  us  by  Thy  hand 
To  our  fatherland. 

<*  If  the  way  be  drear, 
If  the  foe  be  near, 
Let  not  faithless  fear  o'ertake  us  ; 
Let  not  faith  and  hope  forsake  us. 
For,  through  many  a  foe. 
To  our  home  we  go. 

**  Jesus,  still  lead  on, 
Till  our  rest  be  won  ; 
Heavenly  Leader,  still  direct  ns. 
Still  support,  console,  protect  us, 
Till  we  safely  stand 
In  our  fatherland." 

And  so.  you  see  **  The  Order  of  th  i  Grain 
of  Mustard  Seed  "  is  the  story  of  the  first 
Mission  Band.  After  all,  a  Mission  Band  is 
one  of  the  greatest  things  in  the  world. 


n 


Under  the  Haystack 

"The  field  is  the  world." — Matthew  xiii.  38. 

They  were  having  an  examination.  It 
was  not  a  school  examination  and  the  boys 
and  girls  were  not  very  anxious  about  it.  It 
was  a  Mission  Band  examination.  They  had 
a  litde  mission  study  class  and  the  teacher 
had  been  telling  them  a  great  deal  about 
missionaries  and  the  story  of  their  work  in 
China  and  India  and  Africa ;  the  year  was 
nearly  over  and  before  the  class  separated 
for  the  summer,  they  were  having  an  exami- 
nation. One  of  the  questions  was,  **  Where 
was  Samuel  J.  Mills  born?"  and  one  of  the 
boys  quickly  answered,  '*  Under  a  haystack." 
The  teacher  laughed  and  the  other  children 
laughed,  tor  who  ever  heard  of  a  missionary 
being  born  under  a  haystack  I  Of  course 
the  boy  was  wrong,  but  how  did  it  happen 
that  he  thought  of  Samuel  J.  Mills  in  con- 
nection with  a  haystack  ? 

I  will  tell  you.  Over  a  hundred  years  ago, 
in  1806,  Samuel  J.  Mills  was  a  student  in 
IS 


1 6     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Williams  College.  At  that  time  there  was 
no  Mission  Band  and  no  Mission  Board  and 
no  Missionary  Society  in  all  America,  but 
that  only  made  Samuel  J.  Mills  all  the  more 
interested,  for  day  and  night  he  was  thinking 
about  the  people  on  the  other  side  of  the 
world  who  had  not  yet  heard  about  Jesus 
and  did  not  know  the  good  news  of  the  Gos- 
pel. One  day,  after  he  had  thought  and 
prayed  about  it  for  a  long  time,  he  asked  a 
few  of  his  young  men  friends  to  meet  with 
him  under  the  trees,  over  in  the  grove,  be- 
hind the  college.  They  met  there  and  talked 
about  the  need  of  sending  the  Gospel  to  the 
heathen  and  strange  to  say  each  one  of  them 
had  been  thinking  about  it  himself  and  was 
ready  to  go  if  some  one  would  send  him. 
While  they  were  talking  the  matter  over  an 
awful  thunder-storm  came  up  and  it  began 
to  rain  heavily,  but  spying  a  great  haystack 
not  far  off  they  all  made  for  it  and  there  they 
were  sheltered  from  the  storm.  While  the 
storm  held  them  prisoners  they  held  a  mis- 
sionary prayer-meeting  under  the  haystack 
and  each  of  them  prayed  that  God  would 
open  the  hearts  of  the  Christians  of  America 
to  send  the  Gospel  to  other  lands.  The  little 
boy  knew  that  something  was  born  under  the 
haystack,  but  it  was  not  Samuel  J.  Mills  but 


Under  the  Haystack  17 

the  American  Board  of  Fcicign  Missions,  for 
that  was  the  beginning  of  the  Foreign  Mis- 
sion movement  in  America. 

And  now;  on  every  Commencement  day 
at  Williams  College  the  students,  graduates 
and  professors  march  from  the  College  Hall 
to  the  place  where  the  haystack  was  and  hold 
a  little  prayer  service  asking  God  to  bless 
the  missionaries  and  to  pray  that  the  love 
of  missionary  work  may  not  die  out  of  the 
college.  The  haystack  is  not  there  now  nor 
has  it  been  for  years  and  years,  but  a  tall 
shaft  of  marble  marks  the  place  where  it 
once  was,  and  on  top  of  it  a  globe  to  repre- 
sent the  world  and  under  the  globe  on  the 
marble  column  are  these  words  : 

*'  The  Field  is  the  WorldP 

*^  The  Birthplace  of  American  Foreign  Mis* 
sionSy  i8o6r 

Samuel  J.  MillSy 
James  Richards, 
Francis  L.  RobbinSy 
Harvey  Loomis^ 
Byram  Green. 

You  see  now  how  the  little  boy  came  to 
say  that  Samuel  J.  Mills  was  born  under  a 
haystack. 

Prayer  is  the  greatest  power  in  the  world 


l8     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

When  Jesus  saia,  *  Pray  ye  therefore  that  the 
Lord  of  the  harvest  will  thrust  forth  labour- 
ers into  His  harvest,"  He  knew  that  when 
His  followers  would  pray  earnesdy  the  work 
of  winning  the  world  for  God  would  be  well 
on  its  way,  for  when  people  are  willing  to 
pray  they  soon  become  willing  to  help  God 
answer  their  own  prayers.  One  of  the  very 
best  missionary  prayers  in  the  world  is  the 
prayer  Jesus  taught  us  and  which  is  called 
"  The  Lord's  Prayer.''  When  we  say  "  Oui 
Father"  we  remember  that  God  loves  the 
children  of  every  lando  When  we  say  "  Thy 
Kingdom  Come"  we  are  praying  that  in 
every  heart  and  in  every  nation  Jesus  may 
be  crowned  King.  Like  Samuel  j.  Mills,  we 
must  first  of  all  crown  Him  King  in  our  own 
hearts  and  then  pray  that  He  may  be  King 
over  the  whole  world. 


Ill 

The  Knotted  Handkerchief 

"All  that  she  had." — Luke  xxi.  4. 

Of  course  you  all  know  the  story  of  Hia- 
watha! But  I  imagine  you  do  not  know 
who  it  is  that  is  spoken  of  in  these  words 
which  I  have  taken  from  that  beautiful  story: 

**  All  the  old  men  of  the  village, 
All  the  warriors  of  the  nation, 
All  the  Jossabeeds,  the  prophets, 
The  magicians,  the  Wabenos, 
And  the  medicine  men,  the  Medas, 
Came  to  bid  the  strangers  welcome. 

«*  <  It  is  well,'  they  say,  *  O  brother, 
That  you  come  so  far  to  see  us.' 
In  a  circle  round  the  doorway, 
With  their  pipes  they  sat  in  silence 
Waiting  to  behold  the  strangers, 
Waiting  to  receive  their  message. 
Till  the  Black  Robe  Chief,  the  pale  face, 
From  the  wigwam  came  to  greet  them, 
Stammering  in  his  speech  a  little, 
Speaking  words  yet  unfamiliar." 

Would  you  like  to  know  who  the  "  Black 
Robe  Chief,  the  pale  face,"  was  ?     His  name 
19 


20     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

was  John  Eliot,  a  fine,  simple,  plain  name. 
He  was  a  minister  and  a  missionary,  the  first 
missionary  to  the  American  Indians.  It  was 
away  back  In  1646.  He  met  the  Indians  in 
the  wigwam  of  Waban,  a  great  man  among 
the  Indians,  and  John  Eliot  talked  to  them 
about  the  Gospel  for  three  hours — a  pretty 
long  sermon — and  when  he  had  finished  tell- 
ing them  about  God's  great  love  for  them, 
there  were  tears  in  many  eyes  and  people 
tell  us  that  Indians  never  cry  ;  but  that  is  not 
true.  Indians  are  much  like  other  people 
and  it  is  a  great  pity  that  early  in  the  history 
of  our  country  there  were  not  more  men  like 
John  Eliot,  who  loved  them  well  enough  to 
teach  them  about  God,  for  then  they  would 
have  been  helpers  and  not  hinderers  in  what 
we  call  the  path  of  progress.  The  Indians  were 
strong  and  brave  and  made  wonderful  fight- 
ers in  time  of  war,  but  if  they  had  learned  to 
love  as  they  had  learned  to  hate  they  would 
have  been  equally  strong  to  fight  against  sin 
as  good  soldiers  of  our  Lord  Jesus. 

John  Eliot  taught  hundreds  of  Indians  to 
read  and  pray,  and  they  loved  him.  It  was 
in  the  state  of  Massachusetts  that  he  lived 
and  worked  among  his  Indian  people,  and 
there  they  built  a  town  and  called  it  Noon- 
atoman   or  "  Rejoicing  " — the    name   spoke 


The  Knotted  Handkerchief  21 

their  joy  and  happiness  in  hearing  and 
knowing  the  Gospel. 

Indian  names  are  hard,  queer  names  but 
John  Eliot  learned  their  language.  Think 
of  saying  Noowamantammooonkanunonnash 
when  you  try  to  tell  people  you  "  love  "  them, 
for  that  is  the  word  for  "  love.'*  And  they 
"  loved "  John  Eliot.  They  could  not  help 
loving  him.  He  was  kind  to  them.  He 
called  them  his  **  Praying  Indians." 

He  was  kind  to  the  poor  whether  they 
were  Indians  or  white  people,  for  he  was  the 
pastor  of  H.  little  church  where  white  people 
worshipped,  as  well  as  being  a  missionary  to 
the  Indians.  One  day  the  little  church  had 
paid  him  his  month's  salary  and  knowing 
how  kind  and  generous  he  was  to  the  poor 
they  had  tied  it  up  in  a  handkerchief  and 
tied  it  as  tight  as  they  could.  First  the  two 
opposite  corners  were  tied  in  a  knot  and  then 
the  other  two  corners  and  then  the  ends  were 
knotted  and  knotted,  until  they  were  too 
short  to  knot.  It  looked  like  a  home-made 
baseball  for  a  little  boy. 

On  his  way  home  he  visited  a  family  that 
was  very  poor.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
house  and  the  little  children  were  hungry. 
The  missionary  prayed  with  them,  but  he 
was   not   satisfied   to  pray  and  leave.     Out 


22     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

from  his  pocket  in  his  coat-tail  he  drew  his 
knotted  handkerchief  to  give  them  a  Httle 
money.  First  he  tried  to  untie  the  knots 
with  his  fingers,  then  with  his  teeth,  then 
with  both  his  fingers  and  his  teeth  but  he 
could  not  undo  them.  One  wonders  why  he 
did  not  cut  the  handkerchief  with  his  knife 
but  I  guess  he  did  not  think  of  that.  Vexed 
and  impatient  because  he  could  not  untie  the 
knots  he  gave  the  poor  woman  everything, 
money  and  handkerchief,  knots  and  all,  say- 
ing to  her,  "  The  dear  Lord  must  have  meant 
it  all  for  you."  No  wonder  people  loved 
him,  and  no  wonder  there  were  3,600  praying 
Indians  in  his  parish  before  God  called  him 
into  rest.  And  this  was  the  motto  of  his 
life:— 

<*  Prayer  and  Pains 
Through  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ 
Will  do  anything.'* 


IV 

The  Golden  Chariot 

**  A  chariot  of  fire  and  horses  of  fire." — 2  Kings  ii,  II. 

A  LITTLE  Scotch  boy  was  lying  one  day 
in  the  heather  beside  a  mountain  stream. 
He  was  looking  up  at  the  white  fleecy  clouds 
that  were  wandering  like  a  flock  of  sheep 
over  the  fields  of  the  sky.  The  water  of  the 
mountain  brook  was  singing  a  pretty  song 
and  before  he  knew  it  the  little  lad  was  fast 
asleep.  As  he  slept  he  dreamed  and  this  was 
his  dream.  He  saw  above  him  a  glorious 
light.  It  was  as  bright  as  the  sunlight  into 
which  he  had  been  looking  with  open-eyed 
wonder  before  he  fell  asleep.  Then  from  the 
glorious  light  there  came  forth  a  wonderful 
golden  chariot  drawn  by  horses  of  fire. 
Down  the  sky  it  came  faster  than  the  light- 
ning and  stopped  suddenly  at  his  feet,  and 
although  he  saw  no  one  he  heard  a  voice  that 
was  as  sweet  as  the  music  of  the  mountain 
brook  and  it  said  to  him,  "  Come  up  hither. 
I  have  work  for  thee  to  do." 

The  lad  rose  up  to  follow  the  golden  char- 
iot but  when  he  stood  upon  his  feet  he  awoke 
23 


24     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

and  then  he  knew  it  was  a  dream.  But  God 
sometimes  speaks  in  dreams  and  the  boy 
never  forgot  that  call  from  the  golden  char- 
iot, **  Come  up  hither.  I  have  work  for  thee 
to  do,"  and  in  his  waking  hours  he  followed  and 
at  last  he  answered  the  call  and  found  the  work. 

This  is  how  he  answered  the  call.  One 
day  he  went  to  his  room  and  locking  the 
door  he  kneeled  down  beside  his  bed  and 
this  is  what  he  said  to  God  :  "  O  Lord,  Thou 
knowest  that  silver  and  gold  to  give  to  the 
missionary  cause  I  have  none  ;  what  I  have 
I  give  unto  Thee.  I  offer  myself ;  wilt  Thou 
accept  the  gift?'*  God  did  accept  the  gift 
and  Alexander  Duff,  the  Scotch  lad  who  had 
heard  the  voice  calling  from  the  golden  char- 
iot, found  his  work,  and  became  one  of  the 
greatest  preachers  of  the  missionary  Gospel 
the  world  ever  heard,  and  one  of  the  first  and 
finest  missionaries  to  the  great  land  of  India. 

I  want  you  to  be  careful  and  listen,  for  God 
is  ever  calling,  and  it  is  usually  a  little  child 
whom  He  callSo  When  He  calls  I  know  you 
will  rise  up  and  follow.  I  know  a  little  girl 
just  eleven  who  loves  best  of  all  to  sing  this  . 

"  Jesus  calls  us;  o'er  the  tumult 
Of  our  life's  wild,  restless  sea. 
Day  by  day  His  sweet  voice  soundeth. 
Saying,  Christian,  follow  Me." 


The  Boat  that  was  Shipwrecked 

**I  suffered  shipwreck.'* — 2  Cor.  xi.  25. 

Before  Alexander  Duff  reached  India  he 
was  twice  shipwrecked.  On  the  very  coast 
of  India  only  a  few  miles  from  what  was  to 
be  his  home  an  awful  storm  struck  the  ship 
and  sent  it  a  broken,  shattered  wreck  upon 
the  shore.  The  first  night  in  India  he  slept 
in  a  heathen  temple. 

But  his  first  shipwreck  was  more  dangerous 
and  more  terrible.  He  had  sailed  from  his 
home  for  India  in  the  Lady  Holland,  He 
had  been  a  great  student  and  had  won  many 
honours  in  the  colleges  of  his  own  land  and 
gathered  together  in  his  poverty  what  was 
his  dearest  possession — a  library  of  eight 
hundred  volumes.  When  the  ship  went  on 
the  rocks  near  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
everything  was  lost,  his  clothes,  his  trunks, 
and  what  he  valued  most — his  books.  All 
gone ! 

When  they  were  safe  on  land,  on  a  bleak 
and  barren,  cold  country,  they  looked  a  deso- 
late and  unhappy  company. 
25 


26     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

On  the  shore  the  missionary  watched, 
hoping  he  might  still  find  something  from 
the  wreck  floating  on  the  sea. 

At  last  he  did  spy  something.  It  was  very 
small,  however,  and  he  thought  it  hardly 
worth  saving.  It  was  washed  up  on  the 
shore  and  when  he  picked  it  up  he  found  it 
was  his  own  Bible  and  Psalter.  He  thought 
it  very  strange  that  of  his  eight  hundred 
volumes  only  one  book  was  saved  and  it  the 
Bible.  He  thought  God  wished  him  to  know 
that  that  one  book  was  worth  all  the  other 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-nine  which  he  had 
lost  and  that  he  was  to  make  it  the  chief  study 
of  his  life.  He  opened  it  and  there  on  that 
lonely  shore,  to  his  shipwrecked  friends  he 
read  one  of  the  beautiful  Psalms  of  the  Old 
Testament.     How  sweet  the  words  were : 

*'  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships, 
that  do  business  in  great  waters  ;  These 
see  the  works  of  the  Lord,  and  his 
wonders  in  the  deep.  For  he  command- 
eth,  and  raiseth  the  stormy  wind,  which 
lifeth  up  the  waves  thereof.  They  mount 
up  to  the  heaven,  they  go  dovvn  a^ain  to 
the  depths :  their  soul  is  melted  because 
of  trouble.  They  reel  to  and  fro,  and 
stagger  like  a  drunken  man,  and  are  at 
their  wit's  end.  Then  they  cry  unto  the 
Lord  in  their  trouble,  and  he  bringeth 


The  Boat  that  was  Shipwrecked       27 

them  out  of  their  distresses.  He  maketh 
the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves 
thereof  are  still.  Then  are  they  glad  be- 
cause they  be  quiet ;  so  he  bringeth 
them  unto  their  desired  haven.  Oh 
that  men  would  praise  the  Lord  for  his 
goodness,  and  for  his  wonderful  works 
to  the  children  of  men  I " 

When  Alexander  Duff  reached  India  and 
began  his  work  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to 
begin  a  school,  to  give  the  Hindu  boys  a 
good  education,  and  in  that  school  they 
studied  the  Bible.  The  Bible  for  him  was  the 
first  among  all  books  and  his  greatest  desire 
was  to  teach  it  to  others  who  did  not  know 
it.  His  Bible  School  was  the  first  of  its  kind 
in  India.  It  was  held  under  a  banyan  tree, 
for  they  had  no  buildings,  and  the  first  day 
there  were  just  five  boys  present.  At  the  end 
of  the  first  week  three  hundred  had  asked  to 
be  taught  and  every  day  they  studied  the 
Bible  and  learned  to  love  it.  In  a  few  years 
had  you  been  present  you  could  have  seen  a 
thousand  scholars,  with  splendid  school  build 
ings,  and  heard  them  sing : 

<'  Holy  Bible  !     Book  divine, 
Precious  Treasure,  thou  art  mine  ; 
Mine  to  tell  me  whence  I  came, 
Mine  to  tell  me  what  I  am." 


VI 

The  Indian  Interpreter 

*'  He  spake  unto  them  by  an  interpreter." 
— Genesis  xlii.  23. 

When  David  Brainerd  went  to  preach  to 
the  Indians  he  could  not  talk  to  them  in  their 
own  language.  He  lived  with  them,  and  ate 
their  food  and  did  his  best  to  talk  to  them  but 
it  was  a  long  while  before  they  could  under- 
stand him.  He  had  his  own  wigwam  and 
fried  his  own  cakes  made  with  Indian  meaL 
He  slept  on  a  bundle  of  straw  and  was  often 
very  lonely.  "  How  then,"  you  ask,  "  could 
he  preach  to  the  Indians  if  he  did  not  know 
their  language  ?  " 

Well,  until  he  could  speak  to  them  in  the 
Indian  language  he  used  an  interpreter. 
You  know  an  interpreter  is  some  one  who 
hears  what  you  say  in  your  language  and 
tells  it  to  others  in  the  language  they 
can  understand.  The  Indians  among  whom 
David  Brainerd  worked  were  very  wicked 
They  had  learned  nothing  of  the  good  and 
much  of  the  bad  from  their  white  neighbours^ 
on  the  Delaware  River,  in  the  early  days  of 


The  Indian  Interpreter  29 

our  country,  for  it  was  away  back  in  1744. 
He  could  get  no  Christian  Indian  who  knew 
English  and  so  he  had  to  take  what  he  could 
find. 

The  name  of  the  man  he  found  was  Moses 
Tinda  Tautamy.  Surely  that  is  a  fine  name 
for  an  interpreter,  for  Moses  is  a  good  name 
in  many  languages  and  Tinda  Tautamy  is  a 
good  Indian  name.  Moses  Tinda  Tautamy 
had  been  a  drunkard  but  when  he  acted  as 
interpreter  for  David  Brainerd  he  kept  sober. 
He  was  not,  however,  interested  in  the  sermons 
and  prayers  which  he  heard  and  spoke  again 
to  his  own  people.  Indeed  he  was  very  unfit 
for  his  work  and  took  little  interest  in  mak- 
ing the  Indians  understand  what  his  master 
was  trying  to  tell  them. 

One  day,  however,  Mr.  Brainerd  was 
preaching  to  an  audience  of  white  people 
and  Moses  Tinda  Tautamy,  the  interpreter, 
was  present,  and  as  that  day  he  did  not  need 
to  translate  what  was  said  into  Indian  he  had 
nothing  to  do  but  listen.  And  he  did  listen. 
He  was  interested  and  next  day  he  talked  to 
the  missionary  about  the  sermon  and  began 
to  pray.  It  took  a  long  while,  however,  for 
that  sermon  to  bear  fruit,  but  in  the  end  the 
fruit  ripened.  He  was  not  very  strong  and 
one  night  while  ill  in  his  own  wigwam  he 


30     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

was  afraid  and  could  not  sleep.  He  thought 
he  was  trying  to  climb  a  steep,  steep  moun- 
tain up  to  heaven.  The  way  was  covered 
with  thorns  and  he  could  find  no  path.  He 
tried  again  and  again  but  always  slipped 
back.  He  found  he  could  make  no  progress 
and  there  was  no  one  near  to  help.  He  was 
ready  to  give  up  when  he  thought  he  heard  a 
voice  speaking  to  him  quite  plainly.  It  said, 
"There  is  hope  ;  there  is  hope."  Then  Jesus 
came  and  he  found  the  path  and  climbed  the 
mountains  and  entered  into  the  place  of  rest 
and  peace. 

After  that  Moses  Tinda  Tautamy  was  more 
than  an  interpreter.  He  was  a  helper  and 
became  a  missionary  himself,  for  when  David 
Brainerd  spoke  to  the  Indians  the  interpreter 
would  put  his  own  heart  and  his  own  faith 
and  love  into  the  words  and  the  Indians  who 
listened  knew  that  Moses  was  a  new  man. 

If  you  will  read  the  life  of  David  Brainerd 
you  will  find  that  after  this  change  which 
came  into  the  life  of  Moses  Tinda  Tautamy, 
many  Indians  became  Christians  and  the  work 
of  the  missionary  was  crowned  with  success. 
After  all,  we  too  are  interpreters.  We  are  all 
of  us  telling  others  about  Jesus,  who  is  our 
Lord  and  Master.  Are  we  telling  the  story 
well  or  dc  we  sometimes  misinterpret  it  ? 


VII 

Kapiolani  the  Brave 

*«  Fear  thou  not ;  for  I  am  with  thee." — Isaiah  xli.  !0. 

Kapiolani  was  the  queen  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  She  was  a  heathen  queen.  She 
worshipped  the  goddess  Pele  who  had  her 
dwelHng  in  the  great  burning  mountain 
Kilauea. 

Whenever  the  mountain  burned  and  sent 
up  smoke  and  flame  the  priest  of  Pele  came 
among  the  people  and  told  them  that  the 
goddess  was  hungry  and  called  for  food. 

Then  he  would  choose  some  one  from 
among  the  people,  perhaps  a  bride  or  a  little 
child,  some  young  man  or  stalwart  warrior, 
and  present  a  peace  offering  to  the  goddess, 
casting  the  human  sacrifice  into  the  mouth 
of  the  volcano.  Kapiolani  was  even  worse 
than  the  priests  of  Pele,  for  she  too  was 
ignorant  and  cruel  and  superstitious.  When 
first  seen  by  the  missionaries  she  was  sitting 
alone  in  the  sun,  upon  a  bare  rock,  oiling 
herself. 

She  was  a  mean,  low-minded  savage. 
31 


32     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Then  she  heard  the  Gospel  and  became  a 
real  Christian  queen. 

People  who  had  seen  her  first  could  not 
believe  she  was  the  same  person. 

She  became  beautiful  and  dressed  herself 
neatly  and  began  to  help  her  people. 

She  took  the  sacred  royal  relics  which  the 
people  worshipped  from  the  sacred  temple 
and  hid  them  away  in  caves  where  no  one 
could  find  them. 

But  the  people  still  feared  and  worshipped 
Pele  who  had  her  home  in  the  burning  moun- 
tain. 

One  day  the  mountain  burned  and  cast  up 
fire  and  black  smoke  and  the  old  priest  came 
down  among  the  people  to  choose  another 
sacrifice.  Kapiolani  met  the  priest  and  told 
him  there  would  be  no  more  offerings  made 
to  Pele,  and  he  was  angry  and  the  mountain 
burned  and  the  people  were  afraid. 

Nevertheless  the  priest  chose  his  victim, 
for  the  people  still  feared  and  worshipped  the 
dreadful  goddess  and  were  afraid  to  deny  the 
priest  his  request,  and  choosing  the  choicest 
youth  he  could  find  they  went  up  the  steep 
side  of  Kilauea,  the  burning  mountain. 

Kapiolani  followed. 

She  determined  that  there  would  be  no 
sacrifice  and  that  she  would  defy  Pele  and 


Kapiolani  the  Brave  33 

her  priest  as  Elijah  did  the  priests  of  Baal  on 
Mount  Carmel.  The  priest  begged  her  to 
return  but  she  went  on.  She  picked  the 
sacred  berries  of  the  mountain,  meant  only 
for  the  goddess,  and  ate  them  and  sang  the 
songs  of  her  Christian  faith  as  she  drew  near 
to  the  mouth  of  the  smoking  mountain. 

What  a  brave  Christian  she  was  I  We 
must  remember  that  while  we  know  there 
was  nothing  to  fear  from  the  burning  moun- 
tain, she  had  always  feared  it,  and  her  people 
still  believed  in  the  power  of  the  goddess  to 
harm  and  destroy.  If  you  will  take  your 
Bible  and  look  through  it  you  will  be  sur- 
prised to  find  how  often  God  tells  His  people 
not  to  fear.  "  Fear  thou  not."  *'  Fear  not.** 
*'  Be  not  afraid."  "  Why  are  ye  so  fear- 
ful ? "  *'  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled." 
True  religion,  which  is  love,  casts  out  fean 
If  we  only  love  God  enough  we  will  fear 
nothing. 

The  priest  trembled  and  the  people  feared, 
for  they  thought  Pele  would  strike  the  queen 
dead.  But  Kapiolani  was  not  afraid.  She 
knew  her  own  God  was  the  only  God  and 
that  there  was  no  power  that  could  harm  her 
and  God's  Spirit  spoke  to  her  and  said, 
**  Fear  thou  not :  for  I  am  with  thee."  Alone 
she  stood  upon  the  edge  of  the  crater  and 


34     Children's  Missionary  Story- Sermons 

casting  the  sacred  rod  which  she  had  snatched 
from  the  old  priest's  hands  into  the  fire  she 
cried : 

"  Pele  !  Here  I  break  your  power  ! 
Smite  Qie  !     Smite  me  1 
Smite  me  with  thy  dreadful  doom  ! 
Smite  me,  Pele.     Smite  me." 

Nothing  happened  and  turning  to  the 
priest  she  said : 

«  Pele  comes  not  !     Is  she  sleeping? 
Is  she  wandering  to-day  ? 
Is  she  busy  with  her  burnings, 
Is  she  stricken  with  decay  ?  " 

Then  the  old  priest  in  his  anger  cried : 

"  Smite  her,  Pele  I  Pele,  smite  her  ! 
Smite  her  with  thy  dreadful  doom  ! 
Smite  her,  Pele  !  smite  her  !  " 

Still  nothing  happened  and  Kapiolani 
turning  to  the  people  who  now  admired  her 
for  her  courage  said  : 

*'  Hear  me,  friends. 
There  is  no  Pele. 
One  true  God  there  is  ! 
His  this  mountain : 
His  these  burnings  : 
You  and  I  and  all  things  His  ! 
Goodness,  mercy,  loving  kindness, 
Life  Eternal,  all  things  His  !  ** 


Kapiolani  the  Brave  35 

The  people  were  wondering  and  thinking 
and  a  new  hope — the  hope  of  a  loving  God — 
was  awakening  in  their  hearts  and  the  Chris- 
tian queen,  turning  her  back  upon  Kilauea, 
the  burning  mountain,  and  lifting  up  her 
hands  to  heaven,  said : 

"  From  this  day 
Let  no  man  tremble 
When  he  feels  the  mountain  shake : 
From  this  day  no  man  or  maiden 
Sliall  be  killed  for  Pele's  sake  : 
From  this  day  we  pass  forever 
From  the  scourge  of  Pele's  rod  : 
From  this  day  Thou  Lord  Jehovah, 
Be  our  one  and  only  God." 

If  you  will  find  a  book  called  "  The  Pag- 
eant of  Darkness  and  Light"  you  will  find 
these  wonderful  words  set  to  beautiful  music 
and  if  you  will  read  the  rest  of  the  story  of 
Kapiolani,  the  Hawaiian  queen,  you  will 
learn  how  she  helped  make  her  beautiful 
island  a  Christian  country  and  how  she  lived 
a  beautiful  Christian  life  and  sweetly  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus. 

When  we  think  of  her  early  life  and  her 
Christian  courage  we,  too,  feel  like  saying : 

"  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus*  name; 
Let  angels  prostrate  fall. 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem 
And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all." 


vin 

President  Cleveland  and  the  Dog  Story 

♦*  He  leadeth  me." — Psalm  xxiii.  3. 

"  I  WISH  that  missionary  had  told  us  more 
about  his  dogs  I  '* 

It  was  Sunday  and  President  and  Mrs. 
Cleveland  had  been  to  church  and  were  talk- 
ing about  the  service  while  driving  home  to- 
gether to  the  White  House. 

Mrs.  Cleveland  told  the  missionary  what 
the  President  had  said  when  he  called  next 
day  to  take  dinner  with  them  at  the  White 
House. 

The  missionary  laughed  and  said  that  it 
would  be  hardly  right  for  him  on  Sunday 
and  in  the  pulpit  to  tell  nothing  but  dog 
stories,  but  as  it  was  now  Monday  and  not 
Sunday  and  as  it  was  the  White  House  and 
not  the  Presbyterian  Church  he  would  tell 
the  President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland  a  real  dog 
story.     And  this  is  the  story : 

The  best  dog  he  had  was  Voyageur.  He 
was  a  long  legged,  ugly  looking  mongrel 
dog,  but  the  greatest  leader-dog  he  ever 
36 


President  Cleveland  and  the  Dog  Story    37 

drove.  When  he  was  harnessed  to  the  sled 
he  was  keen  and  quick  and  always  in  the 
lead,  but  when  he  was  idle  he  was  sulky  and 
sullen  and  surly  and  preferred  to  be  let  alone 
and  hated  to  be  caressed  and  loved  like  other 
dogs. 

He  would  lead  the  other  dogs  which  were 
harnessed  to  the  sled  in  a  long  tandem 
team, — that  is,  one  in  front  of  the  other, — 
and  through  the  dense  forests  and  over  the 
ice-bound  lakes  and  rivers  he  would  lead 
on  even  when  the  blinding  blizzards  made 
it  impossible  for  the  driver  to  see.  But 
Voyageur  was  getting  old  and  the  mission- 
ary wanted  to  train  a  new  leader,  for  among 
dogs  as  among  boys  and  girls  and  men  and 
women,  leaders  are  hard  to  find.  Not  one 
dog  in  ten  can  be  trained  to  become  a  good 
leader.  They  do  well  in  second  or  third  or 
fourth  place  but  will  not  do  to  be  first  in  the 
team.  Sometimes  an  untried  leader  would 
stop  and  let  the  sled  run  on,  and  suddenly  the 
driver  would  find  the  leader  looking  at  him 
over  his  shoulder  from  the  rear  instead  of 
being  far  on  ahead. 

One  day  the  missionary  put  a  fine  St. 
Bernard  dog  in  front  of  Voyageur  to  see 
how  he  would  do.  Voyageur  said  nothing 
and  the  driver  went  back  to  the  sled,  drew 


38     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

on  his  mitSj  covered  himself  with  robes  and 
cracking  his  whip  started.  He  was  surprised 
to  discover  the  first  dog  standing  alone  off 
the  path  watching  the  sled  go  by  and  old 
Voyageur  leading  on  as  usual.  What  do 
you  think  had  happened  and  how  did  Voy- 
ageur still  lead  the  team  ? 

When  the  missionary  looked  at  the  traces 
of  the  St  Bernard  dog,  which  were  made  of 
moose  skin,  he  found  that  old  Voyageur  had 
rut  them  with  his  teeth  while  he  was  going 
back  to  the  sled,  and  so  the  new  leader  was 
left  alone,  out  in  the  cold. 

The  missionary  scolded  Voyageur,  and  re- 
pairing the  harness  put  Jack  in  front  again, 
and  as  he  returned  to  the  sled  watched  what 
Voyageur  would  do,  and  sure  enough  he  be- 
gan again  to  cut  the  traces  with  his  sharp 
teeth.  Turning  back  the  missionary  caught 
him  and  gave  him  a  good  whipping  and  ar- 
ranging the  team,  again  started  off.  But 
Voyageur  was  angry  and  indignant  and 
when  he-  found  he  could  not  succeed  in 
getting  Jack  from  the  front  his  old  proud 
spirit  left  him  and  putting  his  tail  between  his 
legs  he  slouched  along  the  path  as  if  he  had 
lost  his  best  friend.  He  was  never  quite  the 
same  afterwards.  He  never  forgave  his  mas- 
ter for  putting  a  young  untrained  pup  to  leac? 


President  Cleveland  and  the  Dog  Story    39 

the  team.  He  refused  to  be  comforted  even 
though  the  missionary  gave  him  the  warmest 
bed  and  the  best  food.  He  often  led  the 
team  afterwards  but  his  spirit  was  gone. 
One  day  after  he  watched  t)ie  team  start 
away  without  him,  for  he  was  not  needed 
and  was  growing  old,  he  began  to  howl  and 
whine  and  then  went  ofT  to  his  kennel  and 
died.  Poor  old  Voyageur !  He  could  not 
learn  to  take  second  place  and  was  too  proud 
to  let  a  younger  and  stronger  and  better 
leader  take  his  place.  Boys  and  girls  and 
men  and  women  are  often  just  like  old  Voy- 
ageur. They  do  not  like  to  take  second 
place  even  when  there  is  some  one  who  can 
do  better.  There  is  only  one  Leader  who 
never  gives  up  His  place  It  is  Jesus,  and 
the  Bible  calls  Him  "a  Leader  and  Com- 
mander of  the  people." 

This  was  only  one  of  the  dog  stories  which 
Dr.  Egerton  R.  Young,  the  missionary  to  the 
North  American  Indians,  told  President  and 
Mrs.  Cleveland  that  day  in  the  White  House. 
No  one  loved  dogs  and  the  out-of-door 
world  more  than  he,  and  from  that  day  both 
President  and  Mrs.  Cleveland  were  interested 
in  the  missionary's  work  in  the  far  West,  and 
did  all  they  could  to  help  and  encourage  him. 
If  you  want   to   read   about  wigwams   and 


40     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Indians  and  canoes  and  dog  sleds  and  North- 
ern camp-fires,  there  is  no  one  can  tell  you 
more  about  them  than  he,  and  all  the  while 
he  was  carrying  the  good  news  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  poor  Indians  of  the  far  Canadian  North 
and  West,  and  because  of  his  long  hard 
journeys  thousands  of  Indians  learned  to 
read  the  Bible  and  because  of  him  hundreds 
of  little  chapels  and  churches  were  organized 
for  them  all  over  the  great  Northwest.  He 
was  one  of  the  happiest  men  I  ever  knew  and 
in  his  busy  dangerous  life  he  knew  no  fear. 
He  was  a  good  leader  of  men,  and  it  was  his 
joy  to  lead  hundreds  out  of  darkness  into 
God's  own  marvellous  light. 


IX 


"  Jolly  Good  Fun  '* 

"The  beloved  physician." — Col.  iv.  14. 

In  the  summer  he  does  his  work  in  a 
beautiful  ship  which  has  a  little  hospital  in- 
side, nicely  fitted  up  to  take  care  of  sick  peo- 
ple. He  is  a  doctor,  and  visits  the  fisher- 
folk  along  the  bleak,  bare  coast  of  Labrador 
and  Newfoundland.  What  a  bleak  and  bare 
land  it  is  1  I  have  seen  it  and  hardly  a  goat 
could  live  there,  I  thought.  One  of  the  finest 
gardens  on  that  rocky  coast  line  is  about  as 
big  as  my  back  yard  and  it  is  owned  and 
used  by  a  dozen  different  families.  The  peo- 
ple are  very  poor  and  live  by  fishing.  In  the 
winter  the  awful  cold  and  snow  come  down 
and  they  huddle  in  their  little  huts  and  eat 
their  salt  fish  and  wait  for  the  ice  to  melt  and 
the  ships  to  move  again.  In  the  winter  this 
wonderful  doctor  hitches  up  his  half-wild 
dogs  and  travels  hundreds  of  miles  in  the 
bitter  cold  to  visit  the  sick  people  and  bring 
them  help  and  healing. 

Perhaps  you  know  something  about  this 
strange  missionary  doctor  and  may  even 
41 


42     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

know  his  name.  It  is  Dr.  Wilfred  T.  GreO' 
fell  and  he  is  a  missionary  of  the  Royal 
National  Mission  to  Deep  Sea  Fishermen. 
Summer  and  winter  500  miles  up  and  500 
miles  down  that  dangerous  coast  he  has  gone 
for  years  and  now  he  has  three  hospitals 
and  his  boat,  which  is  called  The  Strathcona^ 
and  if  you  talk  to  him  of  the  dangers  and 
perils  of  the  sea  and  the  snow  he  will  just 
laugh  at  you  and  tell  you  that  he  thinks  it  is 
"jolly  good  fun."  Of  course  he  means  the 
fun  of  doing  good. 

One  day  a  call  came  to  him  to  visi^  a  little 
boy  seventy  miles  to  the  north.  The  Uttle 
fellow  had  broken  his  thigh  and  was  in  great 
pain  and  a  messenger  had  come  over  the  long 
White  Way  to  ask  the  doctor  if  he  would  come 
and  help  him.  Of  course  he  would  come  \ 
He  would  come  as  soon  as  he  could.  The 
dogs  were  harnessed  ;  they  were  half-wild  wolf 
dogs,  but  my  !  how  they  could  pull  the  sled 
over  the  snow  !  It  was  ten  degrees  below 
freezing  and  before  they  got  well  started  one 
of  the  dogs  fell  through  a  hole  in  the  ice  and 
was  lost.  They  started  again  and  the  wind 
was  blowing  from  the  north  and  the  cold  was 
biting,  but  on  and  on  they  went  over  the  ice 
until  they  came  near  the  land. 

They  were  a  mile  from  the  shore  and  the 


'*  Jolly  Good  Fun  ''  43 

current  in  the  river  under  the  ice  was  strong 
and  the  ice  not  very  thick.  The  doctor 
started  off  on  a  run  to  try  the  ice  near  the 
shore,  but  before  he  knew  it  there  was  a 
splash  and  he  was  in  the  dark,  cold  water. 
He  said  afterwards  that  the  best  thing  to  do 
in  such  a  case  is  to  "  keep  cool  "  and  in  ice 
water  one  would  think  that  not  a  hard  thing 
to  do.  Being  a  good  swimmer  and  very 
strong  he  was  soon  on  the  strong  ice  again. 
They  were  ten  miles  from  the  nearest  house 
and  the  frost  froze  his  clothing  until  he  seemed 
as  if  clothed  in  a  coat  of  stiff  and  shining  steel. 
He  would  soon  freeze  to  death  if  he  did  not 
get  it  off,  so  they  turned  and  fled  with  the 
wind,  back  to  a  little  woods  they  had  just 
left,  a  mile  behind.  How  those  dogs  ran! 
There,  in  the  shelter  of  the  woods  with  a 
rubber  poncho  spread  over  the  snow  under  a 
snug  thicket  of  spruce  trees,  he  took  off  sev- 
eral coats  of  mail,  for  coat  and  shirt  and 
underclothing  were  stiff  as  steel  and  cold  as 
ice.  That  was  a  cold  bath  and  a  warm  dress- 
ing room  I  How  would  you  like  to  dress 
under  the  trees  in  the  winter  ?  Yet  that  is 
what  the  doctor  calls  **  jolly  good  fun,"  for 
soon  he  was  warm  and  off  again  to  the  house 
where  the  little  lad  lay  and  suffered.  He 
found   the   boy  in   great   pain   lying  in  his 


44     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

father's  arms.  "  Every  minute  or  two,"  said 
the  doctor,  ''  there  would  be  a  jerk,  a  flash  of 
pain  and  a  cry."  The  doctor  soon  eased  his 
pain  and  worked  with  him  from  ten  o'clock 
till  one,  when  everything  was  finished  and  the 
lad  fast  asleep. 

That  night  Dr.  Grenfell  slept  on  the  floor 
and  when  he  awoke  in  the  morning  the  little 
sufferer  was  awake  and  as  merry  as  a  cricket. 

Of  course  he  wanted  the  doctor  to  stay  but 
there  was  a  poor  woman  in  great  distress 
sixty  miles  away  and  the  sled  and  the  dogs 
were  ready,  so  bidding  his  little  patient  good- 
bye, the  kind-hearted  doctor  was  off  to  his 
work  and  his  "  jolly  good  fun." 

They  call  him  the  St.  Nicholas  of  the 
Labrador  and  he  is,  for  every  year  the  chil- 
dren of  Canada  and  the  United  States  send 
him  toys  and  dolls  at  Christmas  and  he  takes 
them  to  the  poor  little  children  of  that  far- 
away cold  Labrador  coast. 

Why  does  Dr.  Grenfell  live  in  that  dan- 
gerous land  trying  to  help  these  poor  lonely 
people  ?  If  you  ask  him  he  will  only  smile 
and  say,  '*  It  is  such  jolly  good  fun."  But 
we  know  why.  He  is  a  follower  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  who  went  about  doing  good. 


The  Moving  Picture 

"Seek  ye  first." — Matthew  vi.  33, 

Charles  Simeon  was  a  great  lover  of 
young  men.  He  was  a  preacher  in  Cam- 
bridge where  one  of  the  great  English  uni- 
versities is  and  one  day  in  the  middle  of  his 
sermon  a  young  man  came  down  the  aisle 
and  the  preacher  stopped  suddenly  and 
then  said  to  the  people,  "  Here  come  600 
people."  That  was  his  odd  way  of  telling 
them  that  a  young  man  was  worth  600  ordi- 
nary folk.  Especially  did  he  love  one  young 
man  and  if  it  was  of  him  he  spoke  we  would 
not  wonder,  for  Henry  Martyn  was  far  from 
being  an  ordinary  young  man.  He  was  only 
twenty  years  old  when  he  graduated  from  the 
University  but  he  carried  off  the  highest  prize 
and  tells  us  how  surprised  he  was  when  he 
heard  his  name  called.  He  was  only  thirty- 
one  when  he  died  in  Arabia,  but  he  had 
travelled  through  India  and  Persia,  and  trans- 
lated the  New  Testament  into  the  Persian 
language  and  gave  the  people  the  word  of 
God  in  their  own  tongue. 
45 


46     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

When  he  died,  Mr.  Simeon  mourned  for 
him  as  if  lie  nad  been  his  own  son,  and  in  his 
Hbrary  hung  his  picture  so  that  he  might 
always  see  iiis  tace.  It  was  such  a  strange 
picture  1  Wherever  he  went  the  eyes  of 
Henry  Martyn  seemed  to  follow  him  and 
seemed  to  say  to  him,  "  Be  earnest,  be 
earnest!  don't  trifle,  don't  trifle."  Simeon 
was  a  good  man  and  a  great  man  and  paus- 
ing for  a  while  to  look  at  the  face  that  seemed 
as  if  it  could  speak  he  would  say,  "  Yes,  I 
will  1  I  will  be  earnest,  1  will  not  trifle  ;  for 
souls  are  perishing  and  Jesus  is  to  be  glori- 
fied ;  yes,  I  will  be  in  earnest,  1  will  not 
trifle." 

And  Charles  Simeon  was  not  the  only  one 
who  felt  that  Henry  Martyn  was  watching 
and  saying  to  him,  "  Don't  trifle,  be  in 
earnest."  And  a  sweeter  face  than  Henry 
Martyn's  seems  to  follow  us  and  He  too  is  ever 
saying  to  us  •  ''  Don't  trifle.  Be  in  earnest. 
Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  put  first  things  first 


XI 

The  Prison  Pillow 

"For  his  pillows." — Genesis  xxviii.  1 1. 

Who  was  it  that  slept  with  stones  for  a 
pillow?  What  a  hard  pillow  that  would  be  I 
I  know  a  wonderful  story  about  a  man  who 
slept  with  a  book  for  a  pillow  1  Would  you 
like  to  hear  it  ?  It  is  a  story  about  Adoniram 
Judson. 

He  had  gone  from  America  to  the  far-off 
land  of  Burma  as  a  missionary.  For  nearly 
two  years  his  friends  had  had  no  word  from 
him  and  they  did  not  know  whether  he  was 
dead  or  alive.  Like  Livingstone  he  was  lost. 
He  was  not  lost,  however,  in  a  great  open 
continent  Uke  Africa,  but  in  a  dark,  dirty 
prison.  He  had  been  busy  translating  the 
Bible  into  the  Burmese  language  and  had 
nearly  completed  it,  for  this  man  had  learned 
to  read  when  he  was  only  three  years  old 
and  was  a  brilliant  student  of  language.  He 
had  nearly  completed  his  work  when  one 
day,  without  knowing  why,  twelve  men,  one 
of  them  having  a  spotted  face,  came  to  his 
home  and  bound  him  with  cords  and  carried 
47 


48     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

him  off  to  prison.  The  man  with  the  spotted 
face  was  the  executioner  and  was  a  cruel  and 
wicked  man. 

Dr.  Judson  was  put  into  a  dark,  dirty 
stable  with  no  windows  and  only  the  cracks 
between  the  boards  to  let  in  a  little  air 
and  light.  In  that  dark  prison  a  hundred 
robbers  were  crowded.  On  his  feet  were  five 
pairs  of  fetters  and  every  night  lest  he  would 
try  to  escape  he  was  chained  with  all  the 
rest  of  the  prisoners  to  a  long  pole.  Outside 
a  great  lion  was  roaring  day  and  night,  for 
the  wicked  king  would  not  give  it  food  be- 
cause he  thought  it  belonged  to  the  English, 
with  whom  he  was  at  war. 

He  was  not  in  prison  because  he  was  a 
bad  man,  remember.  He  was  a  great  and 
good  man.  Good  men  have  often  been  in 
prison.  Joseph  was  in  an  Egyptian  prison 
and  Peter  and  Paul  were  in  a  Roman  prison, 
and  John  Bunyan,  who  wrote  "  The  Pilgrim's 
Progess,"  was  in  an  English  prison  and 
Dr.  Judson  was  in  a  prison  in  Burma  for 
Jesus'  sake. 

He  was  anxious  about  his  new  Burmese 
Bible,  for  he  knew  the  day  would  come  when 
the  wicked  people  who  had  put  him  in  prison 
would  be  able  to  read  it  and  to  know  about 
the  great  God  who  loved  them  and  cared  for 


The  Prison  Pillow  49 

them  and  some  day  they  would  learn  to  be 
Christians  and  would  thank  the  missionary 
for  what  he  had  done  for  them. 

Mrs.  Judson  by  giving  the  jailer  a  little 
money  had  learned  how  to  get  into  the  awful 
prison,  and  one  day  he  asked  her  to  bring  the 
sheets  of  paper  on  which  he  had  written  the 
Burmese  Bible.  She  thought  she  could  get 
it  to  him  ;  at  least  she  would  try.  Once  she 
had  brought  him  a  mince  pie  made  out  of 
buffalo  meat,  but  the  thought  of  her  courage 
and  tenderness  so  touched  his  heart  that  he 
could  not  eat  it  and  he  gave  it  to  another 
prisoner.  Once  she  sent  a  message  to  him 
on  the  bottom  of  a  cake  she  baked,  and  by 
stuffing  scraps  of  paper  into  the  mouth  of  the 
old  coffee-pot  which  her  Burmese  servant 
carried  to  the  prison,  she  had  been  able  to 
write  to  him,  so  she  thought  she  could  per- 
haps get  the  copy  of  the  Bible  to  him.  And 
she  did.  How  do  you  think  she  did  it  ?  She 
took  the  big  pile  of  paper  on  which  he  had 
written  the  beautiful  words  and  then  wrapped 
them  up  in  a  bundle  of  rags  and  sewed  them 
together  so  as  to  make  them  look  like  a 
pillow.  Such  a  pillow  I  It  was  more  like  a 
rag-bag  and  when  the  servant  took  it  to  the 
prisoner  the  wicked  jailer  looked  at  it  and 
laughed  and  let  Dr.  Judson  have  it. 


CO     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Every  night  his  head  was  pillowed  on  that 
strange  bundle  where  the  work  of  many  days 
and  nights  was  hidden.  I  suppose  he  slept 
a  little  sweeter  because  his  head  was  pillowed 
upon  the  precious  promises  of  God's  word, 
and  he  would  think  of  promises  like  these : 

"  Fear  thou  not  for  I  am  with  thee." 

"  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled." 

"  I  will  give  you  rest." 

**  I  will  never  leave  thee." 

"  The  Lord  is  my  shepherd." 

"  Call  upon  Me  in  the  day  of  trouble 
and  I  will  answer  thee." 

And  God  did  answer  him  and  after  nearly 
two  years  he  came  out  of  the  prison  a  free 
man. 

But  what  became  of  the  pillow  ? 

When  he  went  out  of  the  prison  the  jailer 
stole  all  his  things,  his  mat  and  his  covers, 
everything  but  the  mean  old  rag-bag  which 
was  thrown  out  of  the  door  on  the  rubbish 
heap.  They  had  no  use  for  such  a  bundle 
of  rags.  Now  Moung-Ing,  the  servant  who 
had  taken  the  pillow  to  Dr.  Judson,  was 
keeping  watch,  and  when  no  one  was  look- 
ing he  got  the  pillow  and  took  it  to  the  home 
of  the  missionary. 


The  Prison  Pillow  5 1 

To-day  when  the  thousands  of  Burmese 
Christians  read  the  Bible  it  is  from  the  trans- 
lation which  was  hidden  in  the  prison  pillow 
that  had  been  thrown  out  upon  the  rubbish 
heap. 

God  works  in  strange  ways.  The  Bible 
says  His  ways  are  not  our  ways  for  His  ways 
are  higher  and  better  than  our  ways,  and  after 
the  cruel  days  were  over  Adoniram  Judson 
knew  God's  way  was  best.  I  will  tell  you  the 
first  verse  of  a  beautiful  hymn  you  ought  to 
know  and  perhaps  you  will  find  it  and  read 
ev^ry  one  of  its  six  verses. 

**  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way 
His  wonders  to  perform ; 
He  plants  His  footsteps  in  the 
And  rides  upon  the  storm.'* 


xn 

The  Sailor's  Friend 

**I  have  called  you  friends." — ^John  xv.  15, 

Griffith  John  always  seemed  to  me  such 
an  odd  name  and  I  never  was  quite  sure 
whether  it  should  be  Griffith  John  or  John 
Griffith,  but  now  I  know  that  Griffith  John  is 
right  even  though  I  still  think  that  John  is 
better  for  a  first  than  for  a  last  name. 

This  story-sermon,  however,  is  not  about 
Griffith  John  but  about  Mrs.  Griffith  John,  for 
sometimes  we  are  apt  to  forget  that  the  mis- 
sionary's wife  is  as  good  a  missionary  as  is 
her  much-praised  husband.  Mrs.  Griffith 
John  lived  in  the  Chinese  city  of  Shanghai. 
She  was  a  lovely,  cultured  Christian  lady. 
She  had  not  been  long  in  that  Chinese  city 
before  she  looked  around  for  something  to 
do  for  the  Master  whom  she  loved  and  served. 

She  soon  made  her  discovery.  One  day 
as  she  was  on  her  way  to  the  English  chapel 
she  passed  six  half-drunken  sailors  on  the 
street.  You  know  a  great  many  ships  come 
ai:d  go  from  the  haibour  at  Shanghai.  Each 
of  the  sailors  had  a  bottle  of  whiskey  under 
his  arm  and  was  on  his  way  to  the  ship  to 
53 


The  Sailor's  Friend  53 

drink  with  his  comrades.  Mrs.  John  stopped 
and  turned  back.  A  great  thought  had  come 
to  her.  Those  boys  had  mothers  somewhere 
on  the  other  side  of  the  world  who  were 
watching  and  waiting  and  praying  for  them. 
So  she  went  and  spoke  to  them.  She  was 
very  beautiful  and  they  were  surprised  be- 
cause of  her  interest  in  them. 

No  one  knows  what  she  said  to  them  and 
they  never  told,  but  people  in  that  Chinese 
city  wondered  when  they  saw  a  cultured 
Christian  lady  talking  on  the  street  with  six 
drunken  sailors.  They  were  more  surprised, 
however,  when  they  saw  each  of  the  sailors 
fling  his  whiskey  bottle  into  the  ditch  at 
the  side  of  the  road.  Of  course  the  bottles 
were  smashed  as  they  ought  to  have  been 
long  before,  but  the  noise  made  many 
more  people  turn  and  look  and  they  could 
hardly  believe  their  eyes  when  they  saw  ths 
six  sailor  lads  walk  off  with  the  lady.  She 
walked  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  with  three 
sailors  on  each  side  of  her,  acting  as  if  they 
were  her  self-appointed  body-guard.  They 
marched  down  through  the  city  to  the  Union 
Chapel  and  took  part,  as  far  as  they  were 
able,  in  the  service,  and  after  it  was  over 
went  home  with  her  for  tea.  Think  of  that ! 
They  had  not  been  in  a  home  for  months  and 


^4     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

had  not  had  a  woman's  hand  serve  them 
since  they  left  their  own  home,  perhaps  years 
ago.  Alier  tea  they  sang  some  old-fashioned 
hymns,  and  happy-hearted  and  glad  they 
went  back  to  their  ship.  They  had  entered 
all  at  once  into  a  new  and  beautiful  life  and 
in  that  far-away  wicked  city  they  had  found 
a  friend.  They  began  to  call  her,  "The 
Sailor's  Friend."  When  they  went  to  sea 
they  did  not  forget  her  and  often  wrote  her 
wonderful  letters  that  made  her  heart  glad. 
Here  is  one  of  the  letters  she  received  from 
one  of  the  lads  : 

Dearest  Mother  : 

Is  there  anything  wrong  in  smoking? 
There  is  a  young  chap  on  board  The  Frolic 
who  told  me  last  night  when  he  saw  me 
smoking  that  I  had  not  given  up  all  for 
Jesus,  so  I  thought  I  would  ask  you  if  you 
think  it  is  wrong,  and  I  will  give  it  up. 

I  will  do  nothing  that  my  Saviour  does  not 
love  ;  and  anything  you  do  not  like  I  will  not 
do.  1  would  not  displease  you  if  1  knew  it ; 
you  who  have  promised  to  be  my  mother.  You 
do  not  know  how  I  love  you  as  a  mother,  more 
now  than  when  I  was  with  you.  You  were 
kinder  to  me  than  any  one  else  has  ever  been. 

If  I  had  not  known  you  I  would  not  have 
known  Jesus. 

Your  own  Son. 

The  Frolic, 


The  Sailor's  Friend  55 

Every  Sunday  evening  the  sailors  trom 
the  ships  in  the  harbour  would  come  to  her 
home  and  have  tea  and  then  enjoy  the  rehg- 
ious  service  she  herself  would  conduct  for 
them.  When  she  went  to  the  city  of  Han- 
kow, where  Dr.  Griffith  John  had  his  mission, 
she  carried  on  the  same  work  with  still 
greater  success.  During  a  visit  to  England 
her  friends  gave  her  enough  money  to  build 
a  little  chapel  and  it  was  called  by  the  beau- 
tiful name,  "  The  Sailor's  Rest."  In  that 
chapel  and  in  her  home  many  lonely  sailors 
were  cheered  and  comforted  and  many  of 
them  became  happy  and  useful  Christians. 

No  wonder  they  loved  to  call  her  "  The 
Sailor's  Friend."  To  be  called  a  friend  is  a 
great  honour.  They  called  Florence  Night- 
ingale *'  The  Soldier's  Friend  "  and  you  re- 
member what  they  called  Jesus.  It  was  such 
a  wonderful,  such  a  beautiful  name.  They 
called  Him  *^  The  Sinner's  Friend,"  and  to  us 
as  to  His  disciples  He  says,  "  I  have  called 
you  friends.'  How  sweet  it  is  to  know  that 
He  is  our  Friend,  our  best  Friend. 

"  I've  found  a  Friend ;  O  such  a  Friend, 
So  kind,  so  true  and  tender  ! 
So  wise  a  Counsellor  and  Guide, 
So  mighty  a  Defender  I  " 


XIII 

The  Champion  Bicycle  Rider 

"In  the  paths  of  righteousness." — Psalm  xxiii.  3. 

The  first  bicycles  were  not  like  those  we 
see  on  the  street  now.  Of  course  they  had 
two  wheels,  for  every  bicycle  must  have  two 
wheels,  but  one  was  a  big,  a  very  big  wheel, 
as  big  as  a  wagon  wheel,  and  the  other  was 
a  little  wheel  as  small  as  the  smallest  wheel 
on  a  baby  buggy.  The  little  wheel  was  be- 
hind and  the  big  wheel  in  front,  and  the  rider 
sat  away  up  on  top  of  the  big  wheel.  You 
would  laugh  at  it  to-day  if  you  saw  one  on 
the  street. 

It  was  on  this  sort  of  wheel  the  first  bicycle 
races  were  run.  The  world's  professional 
champion  in  those  early  days  was  John  Keen, 
but  he  was  defeated  by  a  young  man  from 
Scotland  by  the  name  of  Ion  Keith  Fal- 
coner. He  was  the  son  of  an  earl  and  his 
home  was  in  a  wonderful  castle  in  Scotland. 
He  was  strong  and  tall  and  handsome. 
When  he  was  nineteen  he  measured  six  feet 
three  inches  and  when  he  was  mounted  on 
&6 


The  Champion  Bicycle  Rider         57 

his  big  wheel,  which  he  called  "  The  Levia- 
than," the  front  wheel  of  which  was  seven 
feet  high,  he  looked  like  **  everything." 

He  wrote  the  story  of  his  race  with  the 
world  champion  to  a  friend.  It  was  written 
in  shorthand,  to  Mr.  Isaac  Pitman,  the  in- 
ventor of  shorthand,  and  this  is  what  he  said : 

**  The  first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  knock 
ofi  smoking,  which  I  did ;  the  next  to  rise 
early  in  the  morning  and  breathe  the  fresh  air 
before  breakfast,  which  I  did  ;  next  to  go  to 
bed  not  later  than  ten,  which  I  did ;  next  to 
eat  wholesome  food  and  not  too  much  meat 
or  pastry,  which  I  did ;  and  finally  to  take 
plenty  of  breathing  exercise  in  the  open  air, 
which  I  did. 

"What  was  the  result?  I  met  Keen  on 
Wednesday  last,  the  23d  of  October,  and  amid 
the  most  deafening  applause  or  rather  yells 
of  delight,  this  David  slew  the  great  Goliath." 

The  time  was  the  fastest  on  record,  the  five 
miles  being  covered  in  fifteen  minutes  and 
eleven  seconds.  The  letter  closed  with  the 
words,  "  I  am  bound  to  say  smoking  is  bad." 
He  became  the  most  popular  bicycle  rider  of 
his  day  and  was  the  first  to  ride  from  Land's 
End  to  John  O'Groat's,  that  is,  from  the  lowest 
point  of  England  to  the  farthest  point  of 
Scotland.     He  did  it  in  thirteen  davs,  and  at 


c8     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Harrow,  his  old  school,  they  marked  the  prog- 
ress he  made  every  day  by  putting  a  little 
red  flag  on  the  map  which  hung  in  the  school- 
room. 

Many  boys  think  that  if  they  could  only 
become  a  champion  in  anything — in  base- 
ball, or  football,  or  tennis  or  golf  or  running 
or  jumping  or  riding  it  would  be  a  goal 
worth  while  and  they  would  be  satisfied. 
But  Ion  Keith  Falconer  was  far  from  satisfied. 

He  was  a  real  Christian  and  just  as  he  was 
finishing  a  fine  college  career  he  wrote  to  his 
best  friend :  *'  Pray  constantly  for  me  that  I 
may  be  led  along  the  right  path."  He  knew 
what  a  right  path  was.  Everybody  who  has 
ridden  a  bicycle  knows  what  a  right  path  is. 
It  is  a  safe  path  and  one  that  leads  to  the 
goal  and  the  path  God  showed  him  led  hinnr 
to  Arabia,  where  for  a  few  short  years  he 
told  the  story  of  Jesus  and  His  love  to  people 
who  knew  little  of  hope  or  happiness. 

In  Arabia,  the  land  where  this  noble  young 
man  lived  and  died,  they  tell  a  story  some* 
thing  like  this :  There  was  a  beggar  who  lay 
at  the  king's  gate  and  day  by  day  as  the 
king  rode  out  he  gave  the  beggar  a  present. 
One  day  the  king  came  out  and  found  he 
had  forgotten  something  he  needed  and 
asked  the  beggar  to  bring  it  to  him  from  the 


The  Champion  Bicycle  Rider         59 

palace.  The  beggar  was  angry  and  said  to 
the  king  who  had  been  so  kind  to  him,  **  Sir, 
I  ask  for  gifts ;  1  do  not  run  errands."  What 
a  mean  man  he  was  I  But  Usten  !  Jesus  is 
our  King  and  from  His  hand  we  have  received 
such  wonderful  gifts  of  love  and  life  and 
home  and  friends.  When  He  asks  us  to  do 
something  for  Him  are  we  quick  to  respond, 
or  do  we  hesitate  and  object  like  the  mean 
beggar  at  the  king's  gate  ?  When  Ion  Keith 
Falconer,  who  had  received  so  much  in  life, 
heard  the  King  call  him,  he  rose  up  im- 
mediately and  followed. 

«  Finding,  following,  seeking,  struggling, 
Is  He  sure  to  bless  ? 
Angels,  prophets,  saints  and  martyrs 
Answer,  Yes  1  '* 


XIV 

The  Trunk  that  Came  Home 

**  Rich  in  good  works." — i  Tim.  vi.  i8. 

It  was  a  very  old  trunk  and  it  hardly  held 
together.  It  had  travelled  far  and  been 
knocked  about  until  it  was  nearly  a  wreck. 
It  was  an  English  trunk  and  evidently  it  had 
been  bought  in  England  many  years  ago  but 
had  been  in  other  lands. 

On  the  side  of  the  trunk  were  the  letters, 
W.  C.  B,  It  had  come  all  the  way  from 
China  to  England.  A  few  people  were 
present  in  a  humble  English  home  to  open  it 
and  among  them  a  little  girl.  She  was  look- 
ing at  it  with  wondering  eyes.  It  had  come 
from  China,  and  China  was  a  strange,  far-off 
country  and  there  would  be  in  it  such  strange 
queer  things,  and  so  her  eyes  were  opened 
wide  to  see  all  there  was  to  see  She  had 
often  heard  her  father  and  mother  speak 
about  the  great  man  to  whom  the  trunk  be- 
longed, for  W.  C  B.  stood  for  William  C. 
Burns,  one  of  the  Lord's  missionaries  in 
China.  Some  one  once  asked  a  Chines*? 
60 


The  Trunk  that  Came  Home         6l 

Christian  if  he  knew  William  C.  Burns.  The 
man  replied,  *'  Know  him,  sir  ?  All  China 
knows  him.     He  is  the  holiest  man  alive." 

And  now  William  C.  Burns  was  dead  and 
they  had  sent  his  trunk  home  with  all  that 
belonged  to  him  hidden  away  in  it.  The 
little  girl  knew  all  about  it  and  wondered 
what  strange  and  curious  things  they  would 
find  inside. 

What  a  surprise  she  got !  When  they 
opened  it  this  is  what  they  found : 

Some  sheets  of  paper,  printed  in  Chinese. 
A  Chinese  Bible. 
An  English  Bible. 
An  old  writing  case. 
Two  small  books. 
A  Chinese  lantern. 
One  Chinese  dress. 

A  little  blue  flag — which  had  belonged  to 
"The  Gospel  Boat." 

That  was  all ;  nobody  said  anything,  for 
everybody  was  thinking.  Even  the  little 
lady  who  had  watched  everything  was  think- 
ing and  then  in  the  hush  of  the  home  she 
whispered,  "  Surely  he  must  have  been  very 
poor." 

Yes,  he  was  poor,  very  poor,  but  still  he 
was  rich.  He  had  lived  in  China  and 
preached  the  Gospel  for  years,  dressing  like 


02     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

the  Chinese  and  eating  Chinese  food  and  liv- 
ing a  rich  and  beautiful  Christian  life.  You 
remember  Paul  said  he,  too,  was  poor,  yet  he 
possessed  all  things,  for  he  possessed  life  and 
God's  great  love,  and  it  was  said  of  Jesus  that 
though  He  was  rich  yet  for  our  sakes  He 
became  poor,  that  we  through  His  poverty 
might  become  rich,  and  William  C.  Burns 
was  poor  but  he  made  many  rich,  rich  in  love 
and  faith  and  Christian  hope.  We  too  can 
be  **  rich  in  good  works  "  if  we  will  by  kind- 
ness, love  and  mercy  make  life  sweeter  and 
easier  for  those  for  whom  it  is  hard.  One 
of  the  best  ways  to  make  life  sweet  is  to  tell 
people  about  Jesus,  "  whose  yoke  is  easy  and 
whose  burden  is  light,'*  and  in  whose  love 
there  is  perfect  peace  and  rest 


XV 

The  Little  Girl  of  the  Hills 

"  Feed  My  lambs." — ^John  xxi.  15. 

An-LIN  was  just  four  years  old  when  she  was 
found.  Would  you  like  to  know  something 
fibout  her  and  how  she  was  found  ?  She  was 
a  little  Chinese  girl  but  no  one  knew  anything 
about  her  ;  nobody  ever  heard  of  her  father  or 
her  mother,  and  no  one  knew  where  her  home 
was.  Even  she,  herself,  did  not  remember 
anything  about  her  parents,  or  her  home,  or 
her  friends.     She  was  a  little  famine  orphan. 

It  was  in  the  year  1877,  when  what  is  called 
the  First  Famine  in  the  Royal  Province  of 
Shantung  took  place.  There  was  nothing  to 
eat ;  no  rain  had  fallen  for  months  and  months, 
and  there  was  no  rice  and  no  grain.  Fathers 
and  mothers  were  selling  their  little  children 
as  slaves  in  order  to  buy  bread,  and  many 
people  were  dying.  Little  girls  from  six  to 
seven  years  of  age  w^ere  sold  from  one  to  two 
dollars  apiece,  and  those  from  ten  to  twelve 
years  for  three,  four  and  five  dollars  apiece. 

The  missionaries  were  very  busy  during 
those  famine  days  and  used  all  their  money 
63 


64     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

and  all  the  money  that  was  sent  to  them  by 
their  friends  all  over  the  world  to  help  save 
the  people  from  starving.  The  missionary 
who  was  helping  the  people  in  that  part  of 
Shantung  where  little  An-lin  lived  was  Dr. 
John  Livingstone  Nevius,  one  of  the  wonder- 
ful men  who  went  out  to  China  from  America. 
During  the  few  months  of  the  famine  he 
received  from  his  friends  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars and  spent  every  cent  of  it  helping  the 
poor,  starving  people  around  his  mission 
home.  He  visited  383  villages  and  gave  help 
to  nearly  33,000  people,  and,  in  giving  them 
bread  to  satisfy  their  hunger,  he  was  also 
helping  to  give  them  the  Living  Bread  of  the 
Gospel. 

One  day  little  An-Iin  was  brought  into  his 
home  by  some  of  his  wori^ers.  They  had 
been  out  in  the  villages  and  were  coming 
home  in  the  night  when  they  heard  a  little 
child's  voice  crying.  It  came  from  far  up 
among  the  hills.  They  did  not  know  who  it 
was  but  they  followed  the  sound  of  her 
crying,  which  seemed  to  become  feebler  and 
feebler  as  they  came  nearer  and  nearer.  At 
last  they  discovered  a  little  girl  almost  naked, 
nearly  starved,  and  all  alone.  No  longer 
able  to  feed  or  care  for  her,  and  being  not 
a  boy  but  just  a  girl  child,  her  parents  had 


The  Little  Girl  of  the  Hills  65 

left  her  alone  among  the  hills  to  die.  The 
workers  of  Dr.  Nevius  gave  her  a  little  cake 
to  eat  and  a  drink  of  water  and  carried 
her  gently  to  his  home.  When  she  was  able 
to  speak  and  was  not  afraid  of  her  new  friends 
she  told  them  that  her  name  was  An-lin.  I 
think  it  is  a  very  pretty  name  and  very  easy 
to  say.  It  is  like  the  name  of  a  little  lady 
that  I  know  and  love  whose  name  is  An-na. 
She  soon  grew  well  and  happy.  How  happy 
she  was  !  For  days  and  days  she  ate  and 
ate  until  Dr,  Nevius  thought  she  would  die 
of  over-eating. 

At  the  same  station  there  were  five  or  six 
little  boys  who  had  been  saved  from  starva- 
tion who  were  just  as  happy  and  as  hard  to 
satisfy  as  she  was.  As  the  days  went  by 
however  they  all  became  healthy  and  very 
happy  in  their  new  home.  Soon  the  rain 
fell ;  the  dry  hot  days  were  gone  ;  and  there 
was  grain  and  bread  for  all. 

An-)in  had  no  home  except  her  new  one 
with  the  missionary,  but  she  was  very  happy 
and  contented  there,  and  everybody  loved  her 
for  her  gentle  ways,  her  happy  heart  and 
pretty  face,  for  you  must  know  that  little 
Chinese  girls  have  pretty  faces  just  as  little 
American,  Canadian  and  English  girls  have. 

There  was  one  of  the  famine  boys  who 


66     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

was  very  fond  of  An-lin  and  his  name  was 
Wang-Chong-ku.  Sometimes  one  thinks 
that  everybody  who  lives  in  China  must  be 
called  Wang.  There  are  so  many  Wangs 
that  I  suppose  it  is  like  our  name  Smith  and 
is  just  as  common  and  just  as  good.  Well, 
as  the  years  went  by  An-lin  and  Wang  went 
to  school  together.  Wang  was  very  quick 
and  bright  and  became  one  of  the  best  schol- 
ars in  the  school  and  obtained  a  literary  de- 
gree in  the  difficult  old-fashioned  Chinese  ex- 
aminations. Both  he  and  An-Un  had  learned 
to  know  and  love  each  other,  and  both  knew 
and  loved  Jesus.  After  Wang  graduated 
from  the  college  at  Tung-Chow,  he  and  An- 
lin  were  married,  and  there  are  no  happier 
people  in  all  the  world  than  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Wang-Chong-ku,  for  that  you  know  is  An- 
lin's  married  name.  Both  of  them  are  Chris- 
tian workers,  and  both  are  loved  by  all  who 
know  them. 

This  is  the  story  of  the  little  girl  of  four 
years  old  who  was  found  crying  in  the  night 
among  the  hills ;  and  this  is  the  story  of  just 
one  good  thing  among  thousands  which 
Dr.  Nevius  did  during  the  forty  years  he 
worked  in  China  among  his  Chinese  friends. 
There  is  no  happiness  in  all  the  world  like 
the  happiness  of  doing  good. 


XVI 

The  Gift  that  Came  Back 

**A  friend  to  him  that  giveth  gifts." — Proverbs  xix.  6. 

How  would  you  like  to  have  your  home 
in  a  church?  Well,  that  would  not  be  so 
bad  if  the  church  were  pretty  and  clean  and 
beautiful  1  But  how  would  you  like  to  live 
in  a  dirty,  old,  heathen  temple,  which  had 
never  been  cleaned  and  which  was  full  of 
hundreds  of  old  wooden  and  stone  and  iron 
and  silver  gods  and  all  of  them  just  ugly, 
hateful,  old  idols  ?  I  feel  sure  you  would  not 
like  it  and  would  rather  live  out  under  the 
trees  or  among  the  hills.  When  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  John  Livingstone  Nevius  went  to  the 
great  city  of  Hang  Chow — which  is  called 
the  Pittsburgh  of  China — the  only  home  they 
could  find  was  in  a  great  big  heathen  temple, 
and  although  Mrs.  Nevius  was  a  little  timid 
and  nervous  about  living  in  such  a  dark,  dirty 
old  place,  yet  they  thought  themselves  very 
fortunate  indeed  to  get  it  for  a  home.  They 
fixed  up  a  few  rooms  and  made  them  clean 
and  neat  and  were  soon  ready  for  company. 

The  Chinese  people  love  company  and  ask 
lots  of  questions  and  are  very  friendly.  One 
6? 


68     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

day  Dr.  Nevius  went  out  to  call  upon  a 
great  official  in  the  city,  and,  of  course,  was 
invited  to  drink  tea  with  his  new  friend. 
The  tea  was  very  good,  for  China  is  the 
land  where  tea  grows  and  the  Chinese  peo- 
ple know  how  to  make  it  taste  just  right. 
Dr.  Nevius  praised  the  tea  and  said  it  was 
the  best  he  had  tasted  in  China.  The  great 
man  was  pleased,  for  every  one  likes  to  re- 
ceive praise,  and  next  day  there  came  to 
the  missionary's  home  a  great  chest  of  tea 
as  a  gift  from  his  Chinese  friend.  In  a  few 
days  the  official  made  his  return  call  on  the 
missionary,  and  in  the  course  of  his  visit 
greatly  admired  a  picture  on  the  wall  and 
was  quickly  told  he  must  be  kind  enough  to 
accept  it  as  a  present  His  Chinese  friend 
took  the  picture  but  felt  he  had  obtained  the 
gift  because  of  his  praise. 

The  official  no  sooner  reached  his  home 
than  he  sent  two  of  his  servants  back  to  the 
missionary  loaded  with  gifts — six  hams  and 
eight  boxes  of  very  choice  tea.  Dr.  Nev- 
ius wanted  to  decline  his  gift  for  he  feared 
he  could  not  keep  up  such  a  standard  of 
generosity,  but  was  afraid  to  offend  his 
lately  made  Chinese  friend.  The  gift  was 
received  and  the  servants  given  some  money 
and  after  a  while — quite  a  long  while — the 


The  Gift  that  Came  Back  69 

missionary  presented  the  Chinese  official  with 
a  fine  spy-glass.  It  came  from  America.  The 
Chinaman  was  very  happy  and  the  bond  of 
friendship  was  made  stronger  through  the 
giving  and  receiving  of  gifts. 

I  do  not  know  what  Dr.  Nevius  got  in  re- 
turn but  I  suppose  something,  for  gifts  have 
a  way  of  coming  back  to  us,  and  the  Chinese 
people  love  ceremony  and  do  not  wish  to  be 
outdone  in  kindness  and  friendship. 

The  Bible  says,  **  He  that  hath  friends  must 
show  himself  friendly,"  and  this  was  the  Chi- 
nese way  of  fulfilling  the  Scripture.  It  was 
an  embarrassing  way  for  his  American  friend, 
but  not  more  so  than  some  of  our  gift-giving 
when  Christmas  time  comes. 

This,  however,  is  true,  that  it  costs  some- 
thing to  make  and  keep  friends.  Few  people 
think  about  the  cost  of  friendship  and  many 
lose  their  friends  because  they  are  not  willing 
to  pay  the  price  of  a  true  friendship.  Friend- 
ship costs,  not  tea,  and  hams,  and  pictures, 
and  spy-glasses,  but  time  and  thought  and, 
what  is  best  ot  all,  love  and  sympathy.  The 
finest  motto  I  ever  heard  was  this  :  **  Jesus 
and  I  are  friends."  Surely  Jesus  is  our  friend 
and  we  know  how  much  His  friendship  cost 
It  cost  the  Cross.  "  He  loved  me  and  gave 
Himself  for  me." 


XVII 

A  Story  About  Stockings 

"Work  with  your  own  hands." — I   Thess.   iv.,   11. 

Little  girls  on  every  hand  are  very  much 
the  same.  Of  course  they  have  not  the  same 
colour  of  skin  nor  the  same  dresses  nor  the 
same  shoes,  hats,  nor  books,  but  all  over  the 
wide,  wide  world  all  little  girls  have  much 
the  same  hearts,  for  they  are  all  children  of 
one  Heavenly  Father.  When  Fidelia  Fiske 
first  went  to  Persia  she  soon  found  the  little 
Persian  girls  as  lovable  as  the  little  American 
girls  she  had  left  behind  in  her  New  England 
home.  Of  course  everybody  loved  Fidelia 
Fiske.  She  had  not  only  a  beautiful  name 
but  a  beautiful  face  and  hers  was  a  beautiful 
life.  When  she  died  a  little  Persian  girl 
wrote  to  America,  "Is  there  another  Miss 
Fiske  in  your  country?" 

Well,  when  Fidelia  Fiske  went  to  Persia, 
she  found  the  little  girls  whom  she  gathered 
into  the  first  Persian  boarding  school  just  as 
interested  in  dolls  and  pictures  and  books 
and  reading  and  pretty  things  as  any  little 
girls  she  had  ever  known.     She  taught  them 

70 


A  Story  About  Stockings  7k 

to  sew  and  to  knit  and  to  read  and  to  write 
and  to  pray  and  to  do  all  the  things  little 
girls  like  to  do.  She  gave  them  books  and 
papers  to  read  and  when  some  of  her  friends 
sent  them  copies  of  The  Youth' s  Coinpanion 
(do  you  know  The  YoiUh' s  Companion  f) 
they  were  delighted  with  it  and  came  to 
her  asking  her  to  tell  them  how  they  could 
have  it  come  to  them  all  the  time.  Fidelia 
Fiske  wanted  to  test  them  so  she  said,  **  How 
could  you  ever  be  able  to  pay  for  it  ?  "  They 
quickly  said  they  would  knit  stockings  and 
send  them  to  the  editor  of  the  paper.  I 
wonder  what  the  dear  old  editor  of  The 
Youth^s  Companion  would  have  said  if  some 
day  he  had  received  a  dozen  pairs  of  Persian 
stockings  as  the  price  of  his  interesting 
paper  for  one  year.  I  feel  sure  he  would 
have  sent  the  paper  to  those  Persian  girls  for 
a  dozen  years — one  year  for  each  pair  of 
stockings,  for  Persian  stockings,  like  Persian 
rugs,  are  rare.  But  Miss  Fiske  thought  that 
would  not  be  wise,  so  she  said  she  would  pay 
them  six  cents  a  pair  until  they  had  knitted 
enough  to  pay  for  the  paper.  They  thought 
the  plan  was  perfectly  lovely.  How  hard 
and  fast  they  worked  !  The  stockings  were 
soon  ready  and  the  money  on  its  way  and 
by  and  by  the  paper  came  to  them  as  their 


72     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

own  with  the  good  wishes  and  prayers  of 
many  of  Miss  Fiske's  friends  in  America. 

No  one  ever  loved  those  little  Persian  girls 
as  Fidelia  Fiske.  When  she  first  went  to 
Persia  and  could  not  speak  the  language 
she  learned  the  Persian  for  two  words,  "  Give  '* 
and  "  Daughters,"  and  she  went  through 
the  streets  and  homes  of  the  people  saying, 
"Give  me  your  daughters."  And  in  time 
they  gave  her  their  little  girls  and  she 
was  happy  in  helping  them.  She  taught 
them  and  prayed  for  them  until  they  learned 
to  pray  for  themselves  and  many  of  them 
became  sweet  and  beautiful  Christian  girls, 
as  sweet  and  beautiful  as  the  sweet  and 
beautiful  girls  of  Mount  Holyoke,  where  Miss 
Fiske  was  graduated,  where  she  taught  and 
where  for  a  short  time  she  was  president. 

I  think  the  sweetest  thing  that  was  ever 
said  about  any  one  was  said  about  Fidelia 
Fiske,  "  She  was  like  Jesus," 


XVIII 
A  Poet's  Strange  Dream 

**  My  soul  thirsteth  for  God." — Psalm  xlii.  2, 

Do  you  ever  think  that  we  need  God  just 
as  much  as  we  need  food  and  water  ?  Do  you 
ever  think  that  our  souls  thirst  for  God  and 
for  His  loving  presence  even  as  when  we  are 
tired  and  weary  and  faint,  we  thirst  for  a 
drink  of  clear,  cool  water  ?  If  you  will  read 
the  opening  words  of  the  Forty-second  Psalm 
you  will  see  that  what  I  say  is  true. 

"  As  the  hart  (that  is  the  deer  of  the 
forest)  panteth  after  the  water  brooks, 
so  panteth  my  soul  after  Thee,  O  God. 
My  soul  thirsteth  for  God,  for  the  living 
God.'' 

Let  me  tell  you  a  story  that  will  make  my 
meaning  still  clearer.  You  have  all  heard  of 
the  great  Bengal  tigers !  Well,  over  in 
Bengal,  which  is  a  part  of  India,  where  those 
tigers  live  in  the  jungles,  there  are  thousands 
and  thousands  of  people  who  are  not  yet 
Christians  but  many  are  trying  to  find  God. 
In  that  land  there  is  a  great  poet  and  he  too 
73 


74     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

is  not  a  Christian,  although  he  is  not  far  from 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  is  such  a  great  poet 
that  a  few  years  ago  he  won  a  prize — the 
Nobel  prize — given  every  now  and  then  to 
the  best  writer  in  all  the  world.  He  is  a 
great  man  and  a  writer  of  beautiful  words. 
His  name  is  Rabindranath  Tagore.  That  is 
a  hard  name  to  say,  but  when  you  learn  to 
say  it,  it  seems  easy.  Try  it.  He  is  search- 
ing after  God  and  some  day  we  know  he  will 
find  the  Heavenly  Father  of  whom  the  mis- 
sionaries are  telling  His  people  in  that  far- 
away land. 

One  day  he  dreamed  a  dream. 

He  tells  us  his  dream  in  a  very  pretty  way. 
He  says  that  he  dreamed  he  was  a  beggai 
and  had  gone  a-begging  from  door  to  dooi 
along  the  village  path  when  he  saw  a  golden 
chariot  appear  in  the  distance  and  he  won* 
dered  who  this  great  King  of  Kings  might 
be.  He  guessed  that  it  was  the  Lord  Him- 
self whom  he  had  been  seeking.  His  hopes 
were  high  and  he  thought  his  poor  evil  days 
were  now  at  an  end,  for  the  King  would  give 
him  such  wonderful  golden  gifts.  The  char- 
iot stopped  at  his  feet  and  the  King  came 
down  with  a  smile.  He  felt  that  the  luck  of 
his  life  had  come. 

Suddenly,  a  second  time  the  beggar  was 


A  Poet's  Strange  Dream  75 

surprised,  for  the  King  held  out  his  empty 
hand  and  said,  "  What  hast  thou  to  give  to 
me  ?  "  He  thought  the  King  was  jesting,  but 
not  knowing  what  to  do,  he  opened  his  bag 
and  took  from  among  the  grains  of  corn  that 
he  had  begged  from  door  to  door  the  small- 
est grain  he  could  find  and  gave  it  to  the 
King,  who,  mounting  his  chariot,  disappeared. 
He  felt  poorer  than  ever  and  returned  to  his 
little  hut,  sad  and  hopeless.  He  emptied  his 
hag  on  the  floor  and  there  among  the  corn 
he  found  a  least  httle  grain  of  gold.  The 
^i^rain  of  corn  he  had  given  to  the  King  had 
been  returned  to  him  as  gold.  He  wept  bit- 
terly because  he  had  not  given  the  King  his 
alio  Then  indeed  he  would  have  been  rich. 
So  Rabindranath  Tagore  awoke  and  it  was 
a  dream. 

But  it  was  more  than  a  dream,  for  truly 
God  always  turns  to  gold  everything  we 
give  Him,  and  if  we  will  give  Him  all,  every- 
thing, our  days  and  our  love  and  our  hearts, 
He  will  turn  them  all  to  blessings  more  pre- 
cious than  gold,  and  we  shall  be  satisfied. 

"  We  lose  what  on  ourselves  we  spend, 
We  have  as  treasure  without  end 
Whatever,  Lord,  to  Thee  we  lend. 
Who  givest  all." 


XIX 

A  Little  Boy  Among  Savages 

**  He  careth  for  you." — i  Peter  v.  ']. 

Not  very  long  ago,  out  in  the  quaint  little 
old  town  of  Harmony,  in  an  old  shop  where 
there  are  a  lot  of  tools  and  second  hand 
things,  up-stairs  in  the  loft,  I  made  a  discov- 
ery. It  is  wonderful  what  you  can  discover 
in  old  houses  and  shops  and  cellars  and  at- 
tics !  Well,  I  made  a  discovery  and  my  dis- 
covery was  a  book.  It  was  pretty  old.  How 
old  I  do  not  know  but  it  must  have  been 
written  long  before  I  was  born.  It  was  a 
missionary  book  and  old  missionary  books 
are  very  rare  and  very  interesting.  It  was 
written  by  a  minister  named  Rev.  Samuel  J. 
Whiton  and  in  it  I  found  a  capital  story 
which  I  know  you  want  to  hear. 

Years  ago,  so  this  true  story  goes,  an  Eng- 
lish trading  vessel  chanced  to  stop  at  a  little 
African  coast  town  by  the  name  of  Taboo, 
in  the  country  called  Liberia.  The  captain 
wished  to  obtain  from  the  natives  some  palm« 
oil  and  offered  to  give  in  exchange  beads 
and  coloured  cloth  and  other  things,  for  you 
76 


A  Little  Boy  Among  Savages         77 

know  there  was  no  real  money  in  Africa  in 
those  days  and  the  Africans  sold  things  for 
cloth  and  beads  and  things  we  would  call 
toys.  The  captain,  not  knowing  the  dis- 
honesty of  the  natives,  paid  for  the  oil  before 
receiving  it  and  said  he  would  get  it  on  his 
return  trip.  When  he  returned  the  oil  was 
not  ready  and  the  captain  was  angry  and 
tried  to  compel  them  to  keep  their  promise 
but  soon  found  they  cared  nothing  for  a 
promise.  One  day  he  coaxed  some  of  the 
chief  men  on  board  his  ship  where  he  kept 
them  prisoners.  The  tribe  was  very  angry, 
but  the  captain  felt  that  was  the  only  way  to 
bring  them  to  terms. 

One  morning  he  saw  a  great  number  of 
canoes  pulling  off  from  the  shore  with  vessels 
like  those  in  which  the  oil  was  kept,  and  the 
captain  thought  his  plan  had  succeeded  and 
the  oil  would  soon  be  his.  The  men  were 
kindly  received  on  board,  but  no  sooner  did 
they  gain  the  deck  than  they  murdered  the 
captain  and  all  the  crew,  and  leaving  a  few 
men  to  guard  the  ship  they  returned  in  tri- 
umph to  their  village. 

Did  I  say  they  murdered  all  the  crew  ? 
Well,  there  was  one  who  escaped.  He  was  a 
young  Irish  lad  and  his  name  was  Toomey— 
Thomas  Toomey,    He  had  hidden  himself  un- 


^8     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

der  some  of  the  goods  and  they  did  not  find 
him.  He  knew,  however,  he  could  not  long 
escape,  and  so  he  planned  to  leap  overboard 
into  the  sea,  choosing  rather  to  be  drowned 
than  to  be  killed,  but  just  as  he  was  about  to 
jump  into  the  sea  the  savages  caught  him 
and  he  was  hurried  to  the  shore  to  be  pun- 
ished. The  sun  was  very  hot  and  Toomey 
was  thirsty  and  weary  and  asked  for  a  drink 
of  water  and  it  was  given  to  him.  Now  it 
was  a  law  in  that  tribe  that  if  any  person, 
even  an  enemy,  ever  ate  or  drank  in  any  of 
their  houses  they  could  not  kill  him,  and 
Toomey's  life  was  saved  by  this  very  simple 
means.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  under- 
stood what  he  was  doing  or  not  when  he 
asked  for  the  drink  of  water,  but  when  they 
tried  to  decide  what  they  would  do  with  him 
and  some  wanted  to  kill  him,  they  remem- 
bered that  he  had  drunk  water  in  their  village 
and  so  he  could  not  be  harmed.  Eating  and 
drinking  with  them  had  made  them  sort  of 
friendso 

He  was  just  a  poor,  little,  ignorant  Irish  lad, 
unable  to  read  or  write  and  did  not  even 
know  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  Now  listen  I 
The  Christian  missionaries  of  the  American 
Episcopal  Mission  at  Cape  Palmas  found  him 
and  sent  him  to  school  and  he  grew  up  to  be 


A  Little  Boy  Among  Savages         79 

a  wise  and  brave  man.  When  the  old  book 
which  I  found  in  the  loft  was  written  he  had 
gone  back  to  work  as  a  missionary  among  the 
very  people  who  had  almost  been  his  mur- 
derers. And  if  you  will  look  into  some  of  the 
books  that  tell  you  about  the  early  mission- 
ary work  of  Africa  you  will  find  the  honoured 
name  of  Rev.  Thomas  Toomey.  Such  a  story 
1  am  sure  is  a  sermon  in  itself. 


XX 

The  Lion  that  Ran  Away 

««  The  mouth  of  the  lion." — 2  Tim.  iv.  17. 

Once  upon  a  time  some  one  told  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  the  great  preacher,  that  he 
was  the  most  famous  man  in  America.  Mr. 
Beecher  said  there  was  only  one  famous  man 
in  America,  of  whom  every  one  had  heard 
.-even  in  the  smallest  villages  in  the  most  out- 
of-the-way  corner  of  our  great  country,  and 
ibis  name  was  P.  T.  Barnum,  the  great  show 
man.  Everybody  everywhere  knows  about 
Barnum  &  Bailey's  Circus  and  everybody 
knows  or  ought  to  know  about  the  most 
famous  missionary  in  all  the  world. 

I  suppose  everybody  everywhere  knows 
about  David  Livingstone,  who  was  the  great- 
est missionary  since  Bible  times  and  who 
travelled  through  the  jungles  and  swamps^ 
over  the  lakes  and  rivers  of  Africa  when  there 
were  neither  roads  nor  trains  in  that  great 
'continent.  What  a  brave  man  he  was ! 
Nothing  could  make  him  afraid.  He  did  not 
fear  the  night,  nor  the  savages,  nor  the  wild 
beasts. 

One  day  he  had  gone  off  with  some  of  the 
80 


The  Lion  that  Ran  Away  8l 

black  people  near  his  home  to  hunt  for  some 
lions  which  had  been  prowling  around,  killing 
the  cattle  and  frightening  the  women  and 
children.  After  a  long  search  the  lions  were 
cornered,  but  broke  through  the  circle  of 
natives  and  escaped.  Livingstone,  disap- 
pointed and  weary,  was  returning  home 
when  he  caught  sight  of  one  of  the  lions  on  a 
little  hill  not  far  away,  and  lifting  his  gun 
shot  at  the  great  beast.  You  know  the  lion 
is  called  the  King  of  the  Forest  and  is  strong 
and  brave  and  very  dangerous.  The  first 
shot  did  not  kill  the  great  beast  and  Living- 
stone was  getting  ready  to  fire  again  when 
he  heard  a  great  noise,  and  looking  up, 
saw  the  lion  in  the  act  of  springing  upon  him. 
A  lion  can  spring  just  like  a  cat,  and  before 
Livingstone  could  move  or  run  away  or 
fire  his  second  shot,  the  awful  beast  was 
upon  him.  It  knocked  him  over  with  the 
force  of  its  spring  and  caught  him  in  his 
mighty  jaw  on  the  arm  just  under  his  shoul- 
der. Livingstone  thought  nothing  could  save 
him.  The  lion  growled  horribly  close  to  his 
ear,  and  holding  him  in  his  huge  teeth  the 
beast  shook  him  as  a  terrier  dog  does  a  rat 
The  pain  and  the  fear  and  the  shock  made 
him  half  senseless  and  he  felt  he  was  going  to 
die.     But   all   at  once   the   lion   was   gone. 


82     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

One  of  the  natives  coming  up  frightened  it 
It  turned  to  attack  the  native,  but  before  it 
reached  him  the  black  man  had  shot  it  dead. 

When  asked  afterwards  what  he  was  think- 
ing about  when  the  lion  had  hold  of  him,  he 
said,  "  I  was  wondering  what  part  of  me 
he  would  eat  first."  We  know  too  well  that 
God  was  watching  over  His  faithful  servant. 
There  was  much  work  for  him  to  do  in  Africa, 
The  Bible  tells  us  that  "  our  times  are  in  His 
hands  "  and  that  God  cares  even  for  the  little 
birds.  So  Livingstone  escaped,  but  not  quite 
as  easily  as  Daniel  did  in  the  lions'  den,  for 
there  were  eleven  teeth  wounds  in  his  arm 
where  it  had  been  in  the  lion's  mouth  and  he 
was  never  again  able  to  use  his  left  arm  as 
before. 

One  day,  years  after,  when  Dr.  Living- 
stone returned  to  his  old  home  for  a  visit,  he 
stood  before  the  students  of  Glasgow  Uni- 
versity and  trying  to  raise  the  arm  that  had 
been  broken  in  the  lion's  mouth,  he  called 
upon  the  young  men  present  to  help  him 
carry  the  beauty  and  help  of  the  Gospel 
to  the  men  and  women  and  little  children 
of  Africa.  For  Dr.  Livingstone  knew  that 
Africa  had  worse  things  than  lions  to  fight,  for 
there  were  sin  and  shame  and  slavery  in  Africa 
and  from  these  he  knew  only  Jesus  could  save* 


XXI 

When  Livingstone  Was  Lost 

"He  was  lost." — Luke  xv.  24. 

David  Livingstone  was  a  missionary 
doctor  in  the  darkest  part  of  darkest  Africa 
for  over  thirty  years.  Near  the  end  of  his  life 
the  world  lost  track  of  him  and  for  two  years 
and  a  half  heard  not  a  single  word  from  him  or 
about  him  and  thought  he  was  dead.  He 
was  lost.  For  years  he  had  received  no  word 
from  his  home  nor  from  the  great  world  that 
was  hidden  from  him  in  the  African  jungleSc 
He  had  been  following  the  red  trail  of  slavery 
and  his  heart  was  sick  and  sad.  He  was 
hungry  and  lonely.  His  feet  were  worn  and 
every  step  pained  him.  There  was  no  white 
face  to  comfort  him.  His  servants  betrayed 
him  and  tried  to  kill  him.  They  threw  spears 
at  him  and  three  times  one  day  he  narrowly 
escaped  death.  He  felt  as  if  he  were  dying 
on  his  feet.  His  goods  had  been  stolen  and 
sold  and  he  himself  was  just  a  skeleton,  **  a 
mere  ruckle  of  bones/'  as  he  wrote  in  his 
journal. 

Then  something  happened!  If  you  will 
listen  I  will  tell  you. 

83 


84     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Over  in  Paris  there  was  a  man  by  the  name 
of  James  Gordon  Bennett.  He  was  the  editor 
of  a  great  paper  called  the  New  York  Herald, 
He  was  interested  in  Livingstone's  story  and 
thought  if  he  could  find  something  out  about 
where  he  was,  people  would  like  to  read  it  in 
his  newspaper,  so  he  sent  a  telegram  to 
Russia  and  asked  a  man  to  come  and  talk 
the  matter  over  with  him.  The  man  was  an 
Englishman  and  his  name  was  Henry  M. 
Stanley.  When  he  arrived  Mr.  Bennett  said, 
"  Where  do  you  think  Livingstone  is  ? ''  Mr. 
Stanley  said  he  did  not  know  and  that  was 
the  truth,  for  no  white  man  but  Livingstone 
himself  knew.  Then  Mr.  Bennett  said,  **  I 
want  you  to  find  Livingstone„  Here  is  5,000 
pounds  and  when  you  need  more  draw  on 
me  for  5,000  more  and  if  you  need  more  for 
5,000  more ;  never  mind  about  how  much  it 
costs,  only  find  Livingstone." 

Stanley  took  with  him  a  company  of  200 
men  with  all  kinds  of  food  and  necessaries 
and  started  out.  He  nearly  perished  in  his 
journey  into  Africa.  The  savages  fought 
him  and  his  men,  but  at  last  one  day,  just 
when  Livingstone  was  ready  to  give  up,  one 
of  the  native  servants  came  running  into  the 
missionary  doctor's  tent  all  excited  and 
gasped,  "  An  Englishman  ;  I  see  him  "     And 


When  Livingstone  Was  Lost        85 

sure  enough  he  did.  In  a  Httle  while  Stanley 
came  and  Livingstone  could  scarcely  beHeve 
his  eyes  or  his  ears  as  the  handsome  white 
man  came  forward  with  open  hands  saying, 
*'  Dn  Livingstone,  I  presume  ?  " 

Those  were  great  days  for  the  poor  sick 
missionary.  He  grew  rapidly  well.  He  had 
good  things  to  eat  and  enjoyed  the  fine  new 
clothes  Stanley  gave  him  and  was  soon  like 
a  new  man,  talking  and  telling  stories  and 
hearing  about  the  wonderful  things  that  had 
happened  since  he  last  heard  from  home. 

**  You  have  brought  me  new  life,"  Dr. 
Livingstone  kept  saying  to  him  again  and 
again. 

Together  they  travelled  and  journeyed  and 
held  what  Dr.  Livingstone  called  picnics, 
and  for  six  months  they  enjoyed  each  other 
and  Stanley  came  to  know  what  a  real  man 
his  new-found  friend  waSj  and  became  for 
a  while  a  missionary  himself.  When  he  was 
-ready  to  return  he  wanted  Dr.  Livingstone 
to  go  home  with  him,  but  the  great  doctor 
said  his  work  was  not  done  and  he  could  not 
leave. 

The  time  came  to  say  good-bye.  They 
had  been  walking  side  by  side.  Stanley  took 
Livingstone  s  hand  in  his  and  said  : 

"  Now,  my  dear  Doctor,  the  best  of  friends 


86     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

must  part :  you  have  come  far  enough ;  let 
me  beg  of  you  to  turn  back." 

Livingstone  replied,  "  I  am  grateful  to  you 
for  what  you  have  done  for  me,  God  guide 
you   safe   home  and   bless  you,  my  friend," 

"  And  may  God  bring  you  safe  back  to  us 
all,  my  dear  friend.     Farewell,"  said  Stanley^ 

Livingstone  turned  back  to  his  work  and 
to  his  loneliness  and  Stanley  went  on  to  telH 
the  great  wide  world  of  the  wonderful  man 
he  had  left  behind,  all  alone,  in  Africa.  They 
never  saw  each  other  again.  Livingstone 
never  returned  home  but  went  on  with  his 
work  among  his  black  friends.  What  a 
brave,  true,  wonderful  man  he  was  I 

Two  days  after  Stanley  had  gone  he  was 
alone  again.  It  was  his  birthday.  Did  I 
say  he  was  alone  ?  If  you  will  read  his 
journal  in  which  he  wrote  something  nearly 
every  day  you  will  find  that  on  that  day  he 
wrote  this  : 

** March  19th.  My  birthday;  my  Jesus; 
my  King  ;  my  Life  ;  my  AIL  I  again  dedi- 
cate my  whole  self  to  Thee.  Accept  me. 
And  grant,  O  gracious  Father,  that  ere  the 
year  is  gone  I  may  finish  my  work.  In  Jesus' 
Name  I  ask  it.     Amen." 

After  all,  you  see,  he  was  not  alone.  Jesus 
was  with  him. 


XXII 

The  Man  Who  Died  on  His  Knees 

"Teach  us  how  to  pray." — Luke  xi.  i. 

I  MUST  tell  you  one  more  story  about 
David  LivingstonCo  It  is  a  sad  story  but  it 
is  a  beautiful  story.  David  Livingstone  lived 
and  worked  for  a  little  more  than  a  year  after 
he  said  good-bye  to  Stanley  and  then  one 
morning  his  faithful  coloured  servants  found 
him  kneeling  beside  his  bed  in  his  tent  The 
great  doctor  was  so  still  and  quiet  that  the 
servants  touched  him,  but  he  did  not  move. 
He  had  died  on  his  knees  in  prayer.  That 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  things  in  his 
beautiful  life.  But  then  Dr.  Livingstone 
was  always  praying.  He  was  a  man  of  God. 
He  tells  us  that  he  read  the  Bible  through 
four  times  while  he  was  camped  at  Manynema. 
And  yet  when  he  preached  before  the  Foreign 
Mission  Committee  that  was  to  send  him  to 
Africa,  after  he  gave  out  his  text  he  forgot 
everything  of  the  sermon  he  had  prepared 
and  fled  from  the  church.  The  committee 
reported  that  they  had  fears  about  his  ability 
87 


88     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

as  a  preacher,  and  in  prayer  he  was  hesitant 
and  extremely  slow, — yet  this  was  the  man 
who  died  on  his  knees  alone  in  Africa. 

It  was  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
Dr.  Livingstone  was  found  kneeling  be- 
side his  bed.  Then  a  surprising  thing  hap- 
pened. Those  faithful  black  servants,  instead 
of  burying  the  body  in  an  unknown  grave, 
cared  for  it  tenderly.  They  dried  it  in  the 
sun  for  fourteen  days  and  buried  the  heart  of 
this  great,  good  man  under  a  tree,  reading 
the  Burial  Service  there  from  the  English 
Prayer  Book  ;  then  they  wrapped  the  body 
in  calico  and  stripped  the  bark  from  a  My- 
onga  tree  and  placed  it  inside  of  that  bark 
coffin  and  sewed  it  all  up  in  a  piece  of  strong 
sail-cloth.  Binding  it  to  a  pole  so  that  it 
could  be  borne  on  men's  shoulders  it  was 
carried  through  forest  and  jungle,  over  hill 
and  valley,  across  stream  and  river — one  of 
which  was  four  miles  wide — one  thousand 
miles  to  the  sea  at  Zanzibar.  The  journey 
took  nearly  a  whole  year. 

The  body  and  the  faithful  black  servants 
Susi  and  Chumma  were  taken  on  board  the 
ship  Calcutta  and  brought  to  England,  and  in 
the  presence  of  all  the  great  people  of  England 
and  in  the  sight  of  a  vast  congregation  that 
filled  the  great  building,  the  body  of  David 


The  Man  Who  Died  on  His  Knees     89 

Livingstone  was  laid  to  rest  beneath  the  mar- 
ble floor  of  Westminster  Abbey.  I  remember 
standing  one  day  beside  the  stone  that  covers 
his  grave  and  reading  these  words  : 

Bf'ought  by  faithful  hands 
Over  land  and  sea 

Here  rests 

David  Livingstone, 

Missionary — Traveller — Philanthropist 

Born  March  igth^  jSijy 

At  Blanty re- Lanarkshire 

Died  May  4th,  18 jj, 

At  Chitambds  Village,  Ilala, 

For  thirty  years  his  life  was  spent  in  an  un* 
wearied  effort  to  evangelize  the  native  raceSy 
to  explore  the  undiscovered  secrets  and  abolish 
the  desolating  slave  trading  of  Central  Africa^ 
where  with  his  last  words  he  wrote  : 

"  All  I  can  say  in  my  solitude  is  may  heav- 
en^s  rich  blessing  come  down  on  every  one — 
American,  English,  Turk — who  will  heal  the 
open  sore  of  the  world." 

Along  the  right  border  of  the  stone  there 
Is  a  Latin  inscription  and  along  the  left  the 
Bible  verse ;  **  Other  sheep  I  have  which  are 
not  of  this  fold,  them  also  I  must  bring  and 
they  shall  hear  my  voice." 

Thousands  who  never  saw  his  face  or  vis- 
ited his  grave  love  his  name.  It  Vv^as  said  of 
him: 


9©     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

"  He  needs  no  epitaph  to  guard  a  name 

Which   men  shall  prize  while  worthy  work  is 

known  : 
He  lived  and  died  for  good — be  that  his  fame ; 
Let  marble  crumble:  This  is  Living- Stone." 

All  great  missionaries  have  known  the 
need  and  the  power  of  prayer.  They  are 
God's  messengers,  and  before  they  tell  the 
message  they  must  know  it,  and  in  order  to 
know  it  they  must  ask  God  for  it  and  God 
gives  it  to  them  in  prayer,  Jesus  told  us  that 
we  too  ought  "  always  to  pray.*' 


XXIII 

The  Story  of  a  Pair  of  Boots 

**  Come  over  and  help  us." — Acts  xvi.  9. 

In  the  very  heart  of  Africa  there  is  a  won- 
derful country  called  Uganda.  When  Henry 
M.  Stanley,  the  man  who  found  Livingstone, 
sailed  over  the  great  lake  Victoria  Nyanza 
— the  second  largest  lake  in  the  world  which 
he  had  named  in  honour  of  England's  Queen 
—Queen  Victoria, — he  met  with  a  great  sur- 
prise. 

All  over  Africa  he  had  found  only  naked 
black  savages,  but  in  Uganda  things  were 
different.  When  he  landed  he  was  met  on 
the  shore  by  a  great  crowd.  Two  thousand 
people,  in  two  long  rows,  were  lined  along 
the  road  from  the  lake  to  the  king's  village. 
They  were  all  beautifully  neat  and  clean 
in  their  long  white  robes  with  their  chiefs 
dressed  in  bright  scarlet  gowns.  They  were 
there  ready  to  welcome  the  white  traveller; 
for  two  nights  before  the  queen  had  dreamed 
that  she  saw  a  beautiful  vessel  with  white 
wings  like  a  bird  and  a  white  man  with  long 
black  hair  was  standing  on  board,  and  the 
91 


g2     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

king,  believing  the  dream,  had  sent  to  wel» 
come  the  white  man  and  lo  I  the  dream 
came  true !  This  was  God's  way  to  pre- 
pare a  welcome  for  the  white  man,  and  what 
a  welcome  he  got !  Bright  flags  waved  and 
tom-toms  sounded  and  trumpets  blew  and 
the  people  sang  and  through  the  rows  of 
welcoming  people  Stanley  was  led  to  the 
king.  The  king's  name  was  Mutesa,  and 
he  was  half  heathen  and  half  Mohammedan. 

He  first  of  all  sent  a  present  for  the  white 
man's  dinner.  What  do  you  think  he  sent? 
Perhaps  you  can  count  while  I  tell  you. 
First  of  all  a  herd  of  oxen  and  then  a  flock 
of  goats  and  sheep.  After  that  came  men 
with  a  hundred  bunches  of  bananas,  three 
dozen  chickens,  four  dishes  of  milk,  fifty  ears 
of  Indian  corn,  a  basket  of  rice,  twenty  dozen 
of  eggs  and  ten  pots  of  wine  What  a 
dinner  he  would  have !  The  king  himself 
was  clothed  in  rich  red  garments  embroid- 
ered with  gold,  and  looked  very  strong  and 
handsome  and  welcomed  the  white  man  to 
his  kingdom, — the  greatest  native  kingdom 
in  all  Africa,  with  four  million  people  over 
whom  King  Mutesa  ruled. 

Those  were  great  days  and  every  day  Stan- 
ley told  the  king  about  the  great  white  world 
outside  and  of  the  white  man's  God.     Jt  was 


The  Story  of  a  Pair  of  Boots         93 

about  the  white  man's  God  that  Mutesa  was 
most  interested  and  he  would  sit  for  hours 
listening  while  Stanley  told  about  God,  the 
Heavenly  Father,  and  about  Jesus.  So  anx- 
ious was  he  to  learn  about  the  new  religion 
that  he  had  printed  on  smooth  boards  some  of 
the  words  of  the  Gospel,  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Golden 
Rule  and  some  of  the  parables  of  Jesus,  and 
begged  his  white  friend  who  was  not  a  mis- 
sionary to  send  them  a  teacher  to  tell  them 
more  about  God. 

And  now  I  must  tell  you  about  the  pair  of 
boots.  Mr.  Stanley  stayed  with  the  king  for 
some  months  and  while  there  he  wrote  a 
letter  home  to  his  friends  in  England  telling 
them  of  the  wonderful  people  he  had  found 
in  Uganda  who  wanted  a  missionary  teacher 
to  tell  them  about  the  Heavenly  Father. 
The  letter  was  written  but  there  was  no  post- 
office  and  no  train  and  no  stage-coach  and 
no  letter  carrier  and  he  was  a  thousand  miles 
from  any  ship.  But  where  there's  a  will 
there^s  a  way  even  in  Africa,  and  it  happened 
that  one  of  Stanley's  men,  a  young  French- 
man, was  anxious  to  return  home,  and  so 
Stanley  sent  his  letter  by  this  young  man, 
who  started  off  down  the  Nile  through  the 
wild  country  towards  Egypt. 


94     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

The  brave  young  man  never  reached  home* 
On  the  banks  of  the  Nile  he  was  killed  by 
a  band  of  savages  and  robbed,  and  his  dead 
body  left  unburied  on  the  dry,  hot  sand. 
Months  afterwards  his  body  was  found  by 
some  English  soldiers  and  buried.  When 
they  took  ofl  his  boots,  they  found  a  piece  of 
paper  hidden  inside  and  it  proved  to  be  the 
letter  from  Mr.  Stanley.  They  sent  the  letter 
on  to  the  governor  in  Egypt  who  sent  it 
to  England,  and  after  seven  months  it  reached 
London  and  was  printed  in  the  Daily  Tele- 
graph. 

What  a  strange  history  that  wonderful 
letter  had !  Would  you  like  to  know  what 
was  in  it  ?  It  was  a  long  letter,  too  long  for 
me  to  give  you  it  all,  but  this  is  a  part  of  it 
just  as  Stanley  wrote  it : 

**  King  Mutesa  of  Uganda  has  been  ask- 
ing me  about  the  white  man*s  God.  Al- 
though I  had  not  expected  turning  a  mis- 
sionary, for  days  I  have  been  telling  this 
black  king  all  the  Bible  stories  I  know.  So 
enthusiastic  has  he  become  that  already  he 
has  determined  to  observe  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath as  well  as  the  Mohammedan  Sabbath, 
and  all  his  great  captains  have  consented  to 
follow  his  example.  He  has  further  caused 
the   Ten    Commandments    as   well    as    the 


The  Story  of  a  Pair  of  Boots         95 

Lord's  Prayer  and  the  golden  command- 
ment of  our  Saviour,  *  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself,'  to  be  written  on  boards 
for  his  daily  reading. 

**  Oh,  that  some  pious,  practical  missionary 
would  come  here  !  Mutesa  would  give  him 
anything  that  he  desired — houses,  lands, 
catde,  ivory,  and  other  things.  He  could 
call  a  province  his  own  in  one  day.  It  is  not 
the  mere  preacher,  however,  that  is  wanted 
here.  It  is  the  practical  Christian,  who  can 
teach  people  how  to  become  Christians,  cure 
their  diseases,  build  dwellings,  teach  farming, 
and  turn  his  hand  to  anything,  like  a  sailor— 
this  is  the  man  who  is  wanted.  Such  a  one, 
if  he  can  be  found,  would  become  the  saviour 
of  Africa. 

"  Here,  gendemen,  is  your  opportunity-— 
embrace  it !  The  people  on  the  shores  of 
Victoria  Lake  call  upon  you.  Listen  to 
them.  You  need  not  fear  to  spend  money 
upon  this  mission,  as  Mutesa  is  sole  ruler, 
and  will  repay  its  cost  tenfold  with  ivory, 
coffee,  otter  skins  of  a  very  fine  quality,  or 
even  in  cattle,  for  the  wealth  of  this  country 
in  these  products  is  immense." 

The  church  people  of  England  were  at  once 
interested  and  one  day  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  got  a  letter  from  a  man  who  did  not 


96     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

sign  his  name,  promising $25,000 if  they  would 
send  a  missionary  to  that  needy  people,  and 
soon  another  letter  with  another  $25,000  came 
to  them,  and  in  a  little  while  they  had  enough 
to  send  out  seven  Christian  young  men  to 
begin  work  in  King  Mutesa's  land. 

One  of  the  young  men  who  went  out  was 
Alexander  MacKay,  and  some  day  I  will  tell 
you  a  story  about  him  and  how  he  was  wel- 
comed by  the  King  of  Uganda  who  was 
Stanley's  friend. 

What  a  wonderful  God  our  God  is !  He 
counts  the  number  of  the  stars  and  calls  His 
children  each  by  name  and  watches  over  a 
letter  through  the  long  lonely  months  until  it 
is  read  and  answered  by  the  people  to  whom 
it  was  sent.     Let  us  never  fail  to  trust  Him, 


XXIV 

The  Slave  Boy  Missionary 

"  A  new  name." — Rev.  ii.  17. 

Alexander  MacKay  was  called  Africa's 
"  White  Man  of  Work."  He  was  not  a  minis- 
ter, nor  a  doctor  like  Livingstone,  He  was 
a  workman.  He  built  roads  and  houses  and 
boats  and  made  hoes  and  rakes  and  plows 
and  machines  and  King  Mutesa  was  much 
interested  in  him  and  was  his  friend.  One 
would  think  the  people  of  Uganda  would 
soon  become  Christians,  but  it  was  six  years 
after  Stanley's  letter  was  received  before  the 
first  Christian  was  baptized  in  Uganda.  His 
name  was  Sembera.  He  was  just  a  slave 
boy  and  his  old  master  was  a  heathen  and 
very  cruel  and  this  is  his  story  : 

One  day  Mr.  MacKay  was  sitting  in  his 
grass  house  feeling  that  he  had  done  very 
little  since  he  came  to  King  Mutesa's  land 
three  years  ago.  As  far  as  he  knew  there 
was  no  one  in  all  the  country,  not  even  the 
king,  whom  he  could  call  a  real  Christian, 

That  day,  however,  something  strange 
57 


gS     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

happened.  A  letter  came  to  the  missionaryc 
It  was  from  Sembera,  one  of  his  first  pupils. 
It  was  not  a  long  letter  and  it  was  not  very 
well  written,  for  Sembera  had  never  been 
taught  to  write.  It  contained  only  two  short 
sentences  written  with  a  pen  made  from  a 
piece  of  coarse  grass,  and  the  ink  had  been 
made  from  some  black  soot  taken  from  the 
bottom  of  a  pot  which  had  been  mixed  with 
a  little  juice  from  some  native  fruit.  But  it 
was  a  good  letter  even  though  it  was  written 
in  Sembera's  own  language — Luganda — for  it 
contained  the  very  best  news  Mr.  MacKay 
had  heard  in  all  his  life.  And  this  is  what 
the  letter  said : 

*^  Bwana  {that  is  My  Master /)  MacKay, 
Sembera  has  come  with  complim,e7its  and  to 
give  you  the  great  news.  Will  you  baptize 
him^  because  he  believes  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ  ? '' 

That  was  a  great  day  in  the  mission  house. 
He  was  only  a  slave  boy,  but  he  never  failed 
his  missionary  friend  and  he  was  a  true 
follower  of  Jesus  Christ.  Mr.  MacKay  read 
his  letter  with  great  joy,  and  after  six  months, 
during  which  the  slave  boy  was  taught  to 
read  the  Bible  and  to  pray,  he  was  baptized 
and  was  given  a  new  name. 


The  Slave  Boy  Missionary  99 

That  is  what  he  wanted,  for  did  he  not  feel 
like  a  new  boy  and  did  he  not  have  a  new 
heart  and  did  he  not  have  a  new  master  and 
why  should  he  not  also  have  a  new  name  ? 
And  so  when  he  was  baptized  he  was  called 
Sembera  MacKay  after  his  great  missionary 
friend.  Mn  MacKay  had  no  little  children 
of  his  own  and  the  Httle  black  slave  boy  be- 
came as  dear  to  him  as  a  little  son.  Sem- 
bera MacKay  became  in  his  own  way  a  little 
missionary,  and  two  years  after  he  became  a 
Christian  he  led  his  old  master  and  two  of  his 
young  men  friends  to  the  Lord  Jesus.  No 
one  in  all  Africa  was  happier  than  Sembera 
MacKay,  the  slave  boy,  who  was  the  first 
Christian  in  the  great  land  of  Uganda  and 
the  first  native  missionary  to  his  own  people. 


XXV 

Homeless ! 

«'In  my  Father's  house.'' — ^John  xiv.  2. 

One  day  a  young  English  artist  was  paint- 
ing a  picture  which  he  hoped  would  make 
him  famous.  He  was  painting  it  in  the  hope 
that  it  would  find  a  place  among  the  prize 
pictures  in  the  Royal  Academy.  He  put  his 
whole  soul  into  it.  It  was  a  picture  of  a 
lovely  young  woman  with  a  little  babe  in  her 
arms  struggling  up  the  street  in  the  great 
city  of  London.  The  night  was  dark  and 
stormy,  and  the  cold  rain  that  was  turning  to 
sleet  and  snow  was  beating  down  upon  her, 
and  the  wind  was  driving  the  rain  and  the 
sleet  into  her  face  and  almost  blinding  her. 
She  had  covered  her  little  child  in  her  shawl 
and  was  struggling  on. 

But  where? 

She  had  no  home,  and  while  the  warm 
light  from  the  windows  of  the  houses  fell  at 
her  feet  the  doors  were  all  shut.  She  was 
alone  and  homeless.  As  he  painted,  his 
heart  was  filled  with  a  great  longing,  for  he 

lOO 


Homeless!  loi 

was  a  good  man.  He  called  the  painting 
"Homeless"  but  he  was  not  satisfied.  Lay- 
ing down  his  brush  still  wet  with  the  paint  he 
put  his  elbows  on  his  knees  and  his  head  in 
his  hands  and  resting  them  for  a  while  he 
suddenly  said,  '*  God  help  me !  Why  don't  I 
go  and  save  the  homeless  instead  of  painting 
pictures  of  them  ?  "  Right  there  he  gave  his 
life,  as  he  had  before  given  his  heart,  to  God. 
He  went  to  Oxford  University  and  studied 
for  the  Christian  ministry.  For  two  years  he 
worked  among  the  slums  of  a  great  city  on 
the  west  coast  of  England  and  for  five  years 
laboured  among  the  poor  trying  to  bring  the 
homeless  home  to  Christ.  Then  there  came 
a  call  from  Africa,  from  the  same  country 
from  which  Stanley  had  written  his  strange 
letter,  and  from  the  same  land  of  Uganda 
where  Alexander  MacKay,  the  White  Man  of 
Work,  made  his  home  with  King  Mutesa, 
and  he  answered  that  call  He  went  out  to 
Africa  and  in  time  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Uganda,  and  there  in  that  great  land  Bishop 
Tucker  has  been  preaching  and  teaching  and 
leading  the  homeless  into  the  Father's  House. 
He  often  painted  pictures  in  his  African  home, 
and  many  of  them  were  sent  to  England  and 
were  much  admired  by  hundreds,  but  by 
none  more  than  by  those  who  knew  the  story 


102    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

of  his  first  great  painting  and  the  better  story 
of  his  own  great  life. 

When  President  Roosevelt  went  to  Africa 
on  his  hunting  trip  in  search  of  lions  and  wild 
boars  and  hippopotami^  he  travelled  from  the 
coast  in  a  parlour  car  over  a  fine  railroad  and 
was  welcomed  into  Christian  homes  by  this 
same  Christian  Bishop,  and  he  went  to  church 
in  one  of  the  largest  church  buildings  in  the 
world,  crowded  with  men  and  women  and 
little  children  who  were  praising  God,  who 
had  led  them  out  of  the  dark  ways  of  hea- 
thenism into  His  own  marvellous  light.  And 
this  is  one  of  the  many  songs  they  sang : 

*<  There's  a  Home  for  little  children 
Above  the  bright  blue  sky. 
Where  Jesus  reigns  in  glory, 
A  home  of  peace  and  joy. 
No  home  on  earth  is  like  it, 
Nor  can  with  it  compare, 
For  every  one  is  happy, 
Nor  could  be  happier,  there. 

This  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  mission- 
ary. It  means  one  whom  God  sends  to  bring 
the  homeless  home  to  love  and  comfort  and 
eternal  life. 


XXVI 

Chief  Africaner 

"The  new  man." — Eph.  iv.  24. 

He  was  a  Hottentot.  Everybody  feared 
him.  He  had  murdered  his  white  employer 
and  his  wife  and  had  fled  back  among  the 
black  savage  people  from  whence  he  had 
come.  He  was  a  chief  by  birth  and  became 
a  chief  in  reality.  The  white  men,  called  the 
Boers,  had  been  unkind  to  him  and  he  went 
back  among  his  own  people  to  take  venge- 
ance on  them. 

And  he  did.  He  shot  and  killed  anybody 
that  crossed  his  path.  He  made  drum-heads 
of  their  skins  and  drinking-cups  of  their 
heads.  He  was  a  wild,  cruel  savage,  and 
none  dared  try  to  capture  or  kill  him.  So 
feared  was  he  that  the  government  of  South 
Africa  had  offered  $500  to  any  one  who  would 
capture  this  outlaw  chief,  dead  or  alive. 

I  said  no  one  dared  to  try  to  capture  him. 
That  is  not  so.  Some  one  did  try  and  some 
one  did  succeed.  The  name  of  his  captor 
was  Robert  Moffat.  He  had  been  a  Scotch 
lad  who  had  gone  as  the  first  missionary  to 
South  Africa.  Robert  MofTat  was  brave  and 
203 


104    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

when  he  said  he  was  going  to  Africaner's 
village  the  women  wept  and  the  men  begged 
him  not  to  go.  They  said  he  would  never 
return.  But  he  went  and  he  captured  Afri- 
caner. How  did  he  catch  him  ?  Listen  now 
and  I  will  tell  you  I  He  caught  him  by  love. 
He  went  without  any  soldiers,  or  cannon,  or 
guns,  or  swords,  and  he  caught  him  and  held 
him  his  faithful  prisoner  forever. 

Robert  Moffat  went  to  Africaner's  home 
and  loved  him  and  told  him  about  God's  love, 
and  Africaner  learned  to  love  Robert  Moffat 
and  built  him  a  house,  a  grass  hut,  near  his 
own,  and  the  savage  chief  became  like  a  little 
child,  gentle  and  trustful. 

He  had  known  about  the  Gospel  before 
and  had  been  baptized,  but  had  turned  from 
it  all  back  into  savage  life. 

But  Robert  Moffat  won  him  to  Christ  and 
he  never  disappointed  his  friend.  During 
the  missionary's  sickness,  when  he  was  alone, 
it  was  Africaner  who  nursed  him,  furnished 
him  food  and  found  him  the  best  of  milk,  and 
when  Moffat  found  it  necessary  to  move  to 
another  part  of  the  country  Africaner  followed 
him  there  and  built  his  house. 

One  day  Robert  Moffat  told  the  chief  he 
was  going  to  Cape  Town  and  asked  him  to 
go  with  him.     Africaner  was  surprised  and 


Chief  Africaner  105 

alarmed.  He  had  been  a  thief,  a  murderer, 
an  outlaw ;  a  price  was  upon  his  head,  and  if 
he  appeared  among  white  men  they  would 
kill  him.  But  he  went.  The  story  of  their 
journey  would  fill  a  story-book.  It  reads  like 
a  fairy-talco  People  had  given  Robert  Moffat 
up  as  dead,  and  one  man  said  that  Africaner 
had  murdered  him  and  he  knew  a  man  who 
had  "seen  his  bones,"  and  now  here  was 
Moffat  himself  alive  and  well,  and  wonder  of 
wonders,  Africaner,  civilized  and  Christian, 
with  him !  A  man  whose  uncle  had  been 
killed  by  the  savage  chief  looked  him  closely 
in  the  face  and  said,  "  Yes,  it  is  he.  O  God, 
what  cannot  Thy  grace  do  I    What  a  miracle ! " 

When  he  reached  the  city  of  Cape  Town 
he  created  a  sensatioUc  Everybody  wanted 
to  see  him.  The  governor  sent  for  him  and 
the  money  that  had  been  offered  for  his  caf>- 
ture  was  spent  in  buying  him  gifts  and  pres- 
ents. He  was  a  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus 
and  everybody  marvelled  at  what  they  saw 
of  the  grace  of  God  in  him. 

The  last  thing  Africaner  did  was  to  help 
Doctor  Moffat  move  to  his  new  home  and 
he  himself  prepared  to  settle  beside  his  dear 
friend  and  teacher,  but  before  he  could  move 
God  called  him  and  in  his  own  old  kraal  he 
peacefully  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 


XXVII 

A  Great  Chief's  Funeral 

"Jesus    .    .     .     cometh  to  the  grave." — ^John  xi.  380 

MZUKUZUKU  was  the  Chief  of  Ngoniland. 
Ngoniland  is  in  Central  Africa,  in  the  land 
and  in  the  place  where  David  Livingstone 
lived  and  died.  In  that  land  a  splendid 
missionary  work  is  being  carried  on  by  Dr. 
Robert  Laws  and  it  is  called  the  Livingstonia 
Mission,  after  the  great  missionary.  Dr. 
Laws  was  very  much  afraid  when  he  heard 
that  Mzukuzuku,  the  great  chief,  was  dead, 
for  in  the  old  days  of  Africa,  when  a  chief 
died  the  people  offered  sacrifices  at  the 
grave  and  killed  or  buried  alive  his  slaves  so 
that  they  might  follow  him  into  the  spirit 
land.  What  a  dreadful  thing  to  do !  The 
Gospel  has  taught  them  that  heaven  is  a  holy 
and  a  happy  place  and  now  these  savage 
customs  are  fast  disappearing. 

Mzukuzuku  was  not  a  Christian,  but  his 
land  had  heard  the  Gospel,  and  there  had 
been  a  great  change  since  he  became  king. 
But  the  people  were  not  all  Christians  and 


A  Great  Chief's  Funeral  107 

many  of  their  old  customs  were  fohowed 
when  Mzukuzuku  died.  They  buried  him  in 
a  great  cave  as  deep  as  a  house  and  into  the 
grave  they  flung  all  his  belongings.  First 
they  broke  them  into  pieces  and  destroyed 
them  and  then  cast  them  into  the  grave — his 
bows  and  arrows  and  spears,  his  clothes  and 
war  dresses,  his  mats  and  seats  and  pillows^ 
his  drums  and  dishes  and  musical  instruments 
were  all  buried  with  him. 

At  the  service  his  daughters  came  out 
dressed  in  his  dancing  garments  and  cast 
their  eyes  on  the  ground  and  wept  and 
mourned  for  hours.  Then  his  many  wives 
came  dressed  in  his  war  clothes,  with  his 
spears  and  shields,  danced  the  war  dances, 
and  then  fell  at  the  grave  and  wailed.  When 
the  last  great  call  to  mourning  came,  a  thou- 
sand men  stood  up  around  the  grave  with 
spears  and  shields  held  high  up  over  their 
heads  and  as  if  with  one  voice  they  wept 
aloud. 

He  had  been  a  wise  and  brave  chief  and 
was  friendly  to  the  missionaries  and  his 
people  loved  him.  The  one  great  thing  that 
was  noticed  at  his  funeral  was  that  no  single 
slave  was  killed  or  buried  with  the  chief  and 
no  heathen  sacrifice  was  ofTered  For  the 
land  of  Mzukuzuku  is  becoming  Christian, 


lo8    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

even  though  the  leopard  and  the  hyena  still 
prowl  around  the  mission  churches.  When 
the  new  church  at  London  was  built  in  1903, 
there  were  3,130  good  looking  and  happy 
negroes  of  Ngoniland  sitting  on  mats  on  the 
floor  and  1,000  people  sat  down  to  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

It  is  worth  while  to  be  a  missionary  helper, 
for  when  we  help  send  the  Gospel  to  all  the 
world  we  are  showing  people  everywhere 
how  to  be  happy.  Could  you  learn  by  heart 
this  little  Christmas  verse  ?  — 

**  A  little  boy  of  heavenly  birth, 
But  far  from  home  to-day, 
Came  down  to  find  His  ball,  the  earth» 
Which  sin  had  cast  away. 
O  children,  let  us  one  and  all 
Join  in  to  get  Him  back  His  ball,** 


xxvm 

The  Tolling  Bell 

"  Bells  of  gold." — Exodus  xxviii.  33. 

One  day — it  was  the  23d  of  September  in 
the  year  191 1, — the  people  in  the  business 
section  of  the  great  city  of  New  York  heard 
the  wonderful  bell  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian 
Church  tolling  again  and  again.  They  looked 
up  and  listened  and  wondered.  You  know 
**  tolling  "  means  **  telling,"  for  it  used  to  be 
the  custom  when  people  died  that  the  church 
bell  would  "  tell "  their  age — that  is  it  would 
toll  as  many  times  as  the  years  they  had 
lived,  just  as  a  clock  strikes  to  tell  the  hours. 

It  seemed  on  that  September  day  as  if  the 
great  church  bell  of  the  old  Brick  Church 
would  never  stop.  It  struck  one,  two,  three, 
four,  five,  six,  seven,  eight,  nine,  ten,  and 
then  on  to  fifteen,  twenty,  thirty,  forty,  fifty, 
sixty,  seventy,  eighty,  and  still  it  kept  on 
tolling,  ninety,  ninety-one,  ninety-two,  three, 
four,  five,  ninety-six.  Ninety-six  years  I  It 
had  counted  out  nearly  a  hundred  years, 
almost  a  century. 

The  bell  was  telling  the  world  that  the  per- 
109 


no    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

son  who  had  died  was  ninety-six  years  old 
That  would  mean  he  was  born  away  back 
in  1815.  He  had  been  the  oldest  Hving 
graduate  of  Princeton  University  and  he  used 
to  tell  how  when  he  started  to  college  from 
his  home  in  Pennsylvania  he  travelled  by 
stage-coach,  there  being  no  railroads,  and  it 
took  him  seventy-two  hours,  that  is  nearly  a 
week,  travelling  as  he  did  only  in  daylight. 

I  must  tell  you  this  grand  old  man's  name. 
His  name  was  Dr.  James  Curtis  Hepburn — 
people  called  him  Hepburn  of  Japan.  He 
was  Dr.  Hepburn.  He  was  not  a  minister 
though  he  often  preached.  He  was  not  a 
teacher  though  he  often  taught.  He  was  a 
physician,  a  real  doctor  who  helped  people  get 
well  and  keep  well.  And  yet  he  was  more 
than  a  doctor  and  more  than  a  preacher  and 
more  than  a  teacher,  for  he  was  something  of 
each  and  still  a  little  more  than  all.  Busy  as 
he  was  healing  and  helping  people  his  great- 
est work  was  translating  the  Bible  into  the 
Japanese  language  and  making  a  dictionary 
of  the  Japanese  language  so  that  people  who 
knew  English  could  learn  to  read  and  write 
in  the  native  tongue  of  Japan.  Is  it  not 
strange  that  a  doctor  should  do  such  an  odd 
piece  of  work  as  translating  the  Bible  and 
writing  a  dictionary  ? 


The  Tolling  Bell  ill 

Let  me  tell  you  a  story  to  show  how  odd 
it  was. 

When  Dr.  Hepburn  was  in  college  he 
thought  he  knew  what  he  liked  better  than 
his  teachers,  and  thought  it  would  be  better 
for  him  to  study  science  and  chemistry  in- 
stead of  wasting  his  time  in  studying  such  old 
musty  things  as  Latin  and  Greek.  He  fussed 
about  it  and  talked  about  it  and  scolded 
about  it  and  made  so  much  trouble  about  it 
that  Dr.  Green,  the  president  of  the  college, 
called  him  into  his  study  one  day  and  said  to 
him  :  "  I  hear  you  have  a  poor  opinion  of 
the  Latin  and  Greek  writers  ;  "  and  then  with 
a  twinkle  in  his  eye  he  said,  **  What  have 
you  discovered  that  is  so  out-of-the-way  with 
them  ? "  The  young  lad  said  he  hated  to 
waste  so  much  time  over  them.  The  presi- 
dent immediately  said,  **  It  seems  to  me  you 
have  an  abundance  of  time.  You  are  not 
yet  fifteen  and  you  have  plenty  of  time  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  those  interesting 
old  gentlemen."  The  dear  old  president 
and  the  independent  boy  talked  on  until 
the  lad  felt  there  were  some  things  he  did 
not  yet  know  and  went  quietly  back  to  his 
task  and  became  a  fine  student  of  language, 
and  years  after  he  was  able  to  do  so  much  to 
make  the  language  of  Japan  known  and  read 


112    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sernaons 

by  men  of  other  lands.  It  was  for  this  great 
service  that  the  Mikado, — Mitsuhito  the 
Great — gave  him  the  high  honour  of  belong- 
ing to  the  Japanese  *'  Order  of  the  Rising 
Sun.'^ 

If  I  were  preaching  a  sermon  and  not  tell- 
ing a  story  I  would  urge  you  to  remember  two 
things. 

First,  that  it  is  a  great  thing  to  have  a 
dear  good  teacher  who  knows  more  than  we 
do,  and  who  knows  how  to  smile  and  laugh 
and  to  be  pleasant  while  he  points  out  the 
wisdom  of  travelling  over  a  hard  road. 

Second,  that  sometimes  God  does  not  tell 
us  what  He  wants  us  to  do  and  yet  He  leads 
us  in  right  paths  for  His  name's  sake.  He 
was  leading  Dr.  Hepburn  and  before  he  was 
aware  planning  his  life  for  him.  God's 
thoughts  are  higher  than  our  thoughts  and 
His  ways  better  than  our  ways. 


XXIX 

A  Wise  Man  of  the  East 

*«  Wise  men  from  the  East." — Matthew  ii.  I, 

They  called  him  Okuno.  Those  who 
loved  him  and  knew  him  best  called  him 
Father  Okuno.  His  full  name  was  Rev, 
Okuno  Masatusuna.  He  was  a  Japanese 
Christian  minister  and  the  greatest  native 
preacher  in  Japan.  It  is  said  that  he 
preached  over  4,000  sermons  and  travelled 
all  over  Japan  preaching  the  Gospel  and 
singing  the  story  of  Jesus.  For  Okuno  was 
a  poet  as  well  as  a  preacher.  He  printed  a 
fine  Japanese  hymn-book  and  he  himself 
wrote  many  beautiful  Christian  hymns. 
When  the  children  of  Japan  sing  our  chil- 
dren's hymn,  **  Jesus  loves  me,  this  I  know," 
they  use  the  words  that  Okuno  wrote  when 
he  turned  that  pretty  hymn  into  Japanese. 

What  a  strange,  strange  life  he  lived  I  He 
was  first  of  all  a  Buddhist  student  and  then 
a  soldier  and  then  a  Confucian  wise  man, 
and  then  a  bad,  wicked,  evil  man  and  then  a 
Christian,  who  lived  to  be  good  and  to  do 
good.  When  he  was  a  soldier,  he  wanted 
113 


114    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

his  friend  who  was  a  traitor  to  become  king 
and  was  willing  to  die  for  him.  The  old 
Buddhist  priest  told  him  that,  in  order  to  suc- 
ceed and  win  the  throne  for  his  friend,  he  must 
pray  and  sacrifice  to  his  gods.  He  did  every- 
thing the  priest  told  him  to  do.  He  fasted 
until  he  was  almost  starved.  He  bathed 
himself  in  ice  cold  water  every  morning  for 
months ;  he  sat  for  hours  on  rough  coarse 
mats  keeping  watch  before  the  idols  and 
saying  prayers.  He  travelled  on  foot  to 
many,  many  temples,  and  prayed  in  over  a 
thousand  ;  he  sent  his  servants  to  pray  in  the 
temples  in  all  the  villages  until  they  had  ofifered 
sacrifice  for  him  before  15,000  other  sacred 
shrines. 

But  there  was  no  answer  and  no  response. 
Okuno  was  disappointed  and  angry,  and,  re- 
turning to  the  temples,  knocked  down  the 
idols,  trampled  upon  the  sacred  images 
and  became  a  bad  and  hateful  man.  Then 
the  dear  Lord  Jesus  became  his  friend  in  his 
loneliness  and  how  happy  and  brave  he  was  I 
It  meant  death  for  any  Japanese  to  be  a 
Christian  and  to  teach  about  Jesus  in  those 
days,  but  Okuno  was  not  afraid.  Drawing 
his  finger  across  his  neck  he  said  with  a 
smile,  *'  They  may  cut  off  my  head  but  they 
cannot  hurt  my  soul." 


A  Wise  Man  of  the  East  1 15 

I  told  you  once  about  Dr.  Hepburn  and  his 
great  work  in  translating  the  Bible  into  the 
Japanese  language,  but  I  did  not  tell  you 
that  if  it  had  not  been  for  Okuno  he  never 
could  have  done  that  great  work.  Okuno 
was  eyes  and  hands  and  heart  for  Dr  Hep- 
burn. 

I  sometimes  think  of  the  words  of  Jesus 
that  the  first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first 
when  I  read  about  Okuno.  He  was  only  a 
poor  idol  worshipper,  and  then  a  bad,  dan- 
gerous man  and  then  Jesus  saved  him  and 
he  became  one  of  the  greatest  preachers 
Japan  ever  had,  A  dear  old  man,  a  scholar, 
a  saint,  one  of  God's  masterpieces.  I  won- 
der if  you  know  the  hymn  from  which  the 
verse  comes.  I  suppose  if  y^u  looked  you 
would  find  it  in  Okuno's  own  hymn-book : 

*'  Down  in  the  human  heart,  crushed  by  the  tempter, 
Feelings  lie  buried  that  grace  can  restore  ; 
Touched  by  a  loving  hand,  wakened  by  kindness, 
Chords  that  were  broken  will  vibrate  once  more." 


XXX 

The  Devil's  Society 

*'  One  is  your  Master." — Matthew  xxiii.  8. 

The  other  day  I  had  in  my  church  a  real 
up-to-date  missionary.  His  name  is  George 
Sherwood  Eddy.  He  was  fifteen  years  in 
India  and  now  works  among  the  colleges  of 
Asia,  speaking  to  the  students,  and  has  a 
wonderful  story  to  tell  of  the  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  students  in  India  and  China 
and  Japan  who  are  reading  their  Bibles  and 
trying  to  follow  Jesus.  When  he  was  with 
me  the  last  time  he  told  this  story  : 

He  was  preaching  one  day  in  India  to  the 
college  students  and  he  noticed  a  young  man 
who  sat  in  the  audience  who  laughed  at 
everything  he  said.  When  the  service  was 
over  this  young  fellow  gathered  his  young 
men  friends  around  him  and  scoffed.  He 
came  the  next  night  and  the  sermon  was 
about  sin  and  this  time  the  young  fellow  did 
not  laugh  but  sat  with  his  eyes  on  the  floor 
as  if  he  were  thinking.  That  was  the  last 
meeting  to  be  held  in  that  college,  and  Mr. 
Eddy  had  heard  something  about  this  young 
ii6 


The  DeviFs  Society  117 

fellow  and  his  great  influence  for  evil,  so  he 
asked  him  to  take  a  walk  with  him  after  the 
meeting. 

It  was  a  moonlight  night  and  after  walk- 
ing a  while  they  sat  down  under  a  tree,  near 
the  old  college  wall.  The  young  fellow  be- 
longed to  what  was  called  "The  Devil's  So- 
ciety." What  an  awful  name  I  He  was  the 
president  of  that  dreadful  society  and  hated 
everything  Christian.  He  belonged  to  a 
family  that  hated  Jesus.  His  grandfather 
had  beaten  the  Christians,  burned  their 
houses,  and  at  the  head  of  a  mob  of  several 
hundred  Chinese  had  made  an  attack  on  the 
missionary's  house  and  had  tried  to  kill  him. 

Sitting  there  in  the  moonlight,  in  the  quiet 
of  the  college  campus,  in  far-away  India, 
these  two  talked  about  the  God  whom  the  one 
loved  and  the  other  thought  he  hated. 

'*  Do  you  know  God  as  your  Heavenly 
Father  ?  "  said  Mr.  Eddy. 

"  No/'  said  the  student ;  "  our  religion  tells 
us  nothing  about  that.  I  know  nothing  about 
it.'' 

"Are  you  sure  that  everything  is  all  right 
with  you?  If  the  end  came  now,  would 
everything  be  all  right  ?  " 

The  young  fellow  had  not  been  living  right 
and  he  hung  his  head  and  said : 


Il8    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

"  I  don't  know  I " 

Mr.  Eddy,  who  knows  college  men  as  well 
as  any  one  can  know  them,  looked  at  him 
quietly  for  a  few  moments. 

"  My  boy,"  he  said,  **  I  have  come  half- 
way around  the  world  to  tell  you  that  you 
can  be  saved  here  and  now,  for  Christ  is  ever 
standing  at  the  door  of  the  heart  knocking, 
ready  to  come  in." 

The  young  man  was  thinking  hard. 

*'  It  will  mean  persecution  ;  your  father  will 
turn  you  from  his  home.  Your  family  will 
not  receive  you.  You  will  perhaps  lose  your 
fortune  and  your  friends.  What  do  you 
say?" 

Then  looking  into  the  face  of  his  new-found 
friend  he  said : 

**  I  have  studied  the  Bible  until  I  am  sure 
there  is  one  God  and  that  Jesus  is  the  only 
Saviour,  but  until  to-night  I  never  felt  my  own 
need  of  Him.  I  feel  it  now  and  I  will  come 
to  Him.  As  for  persecution,  let  them  perse- 
cute ;  I  would  rather  like  it." 

Don't  you  think  that  was  a  brave  thing  to 
say  ?  But  then  he  was  a  brave  young  man. 
He  was  one  of  the  best  football  players  in  the 
college  and  was  the  tennis  champion  that 
year,  and  at  heart  he  was  deeply  religious, 
but  had  missed  the  way. 


The  Devil's  Society  119 

Together  under  the  moonlight  they  prayed, 
the  one  for  the  other,  and  there  they  said 
good-night. 

The  young  man  went  to  his  room  and  that 
night  *'  The  Devil's  Society  "  was  broken  up. 
It  does  not  exist  to-day.  For  ten  days  his 
father  was  in  a  rage  against  him^  but  the 
young  fellow  was  true,  and  confessing  his 
faith  in  Jesus  as  his  Saviour  was  baptized  in 
the  presence  of  his  classmates.  When  Mr. 
Eddy  left  India  on  his  missionary  tour  this 
young  man  stood  on  the  pier,  with  a  happy 
heart  and  a  smiling  face,  waving  him  good- 
bye. 

Let  me  ask  you  the  same  question  Mr. 
Eddy  asked  the  young  Indian  student :  "  Do 
you  know  the  Heavenly  Father  ?  "  Is  Jesus 
your  Master,  too  ?     Can  you  say  ? — 

"  Jesus,  Master,  I  am  Thine. 

Keep  me  faithful,  keep  me  near ; 
Let  Thy  presence  in  me  shine, 

All  my  homeward  way  to  cheer. 
Jesus,  at  Thy  feet  I  fall, 

Oh,  be  Thou  my  all  in  all." 


XXXI 

The  Kitchen  God 

*•  In  My  Father's  House." — ^John  xiv.  2. 

Not  all  the  great  missionaries  are  dead 
There  are  lots  of  good  missionaries  still  liv- 
ing among  the  heathen  people,  and  they  are 
just  as  happy  as  any  of  us.  I  know  one 
whom  I  think  is  happier  than  most  of  us. 
She  wrote  a  book  about  China  and  called  it 
*'  New  Thrills  in  Old  China,"  and  it  sounds 
just  like  her.  She  is  either  getting  or  giving 
**  thrills "  all  the  time.  She  has  been  in 
China  a  long  while.  Perhaps  I  had  better 
not  say  how  long,  for  she  might  not  like  me 
to  tell  anything  about  her  age.  She  is  the 
missionary  of  the  Shadyside  Presbyterian 
Church,  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  and  has  a 
very  pretty  name.  It  is  Charlotte  E.  Hawes. 
Her  friends  call  her  Lottie  for  short.  She 
was  through  the  awful  Boxer  War  when  30,- 
000  Chinese  Christians  lost  their  lives.  She 
is  a  great  story-teller — I  mean,  of  course,  a 
teller  of  true  stories — and  she  dearly  loves 
little  boys  and  girls,  especially  boys.  I  will 
try  to  tell  you  one  of  her  stories.  Here  it  is : 
120 


The  Kitchen  God  12I 

One  day  she  was  visiting  far  away  up 
among  the  hills  in  a  home  where  the  people 
had  decided  to  give  up  their  idol  worship 
and  become  true  Christians.  One  of  the 
first  things  this  new  Christian  Chinese  family 
did  was  to  destroy  its  '*  Kitchen  god."  It  is 
an  image  pasted  up  over  the  "  Koa,"  or  wall 
near  the  great  iron  bowl  in  which  all  the 
Chinese  food  is  cooked.  The  Kitchen  god 
has  charge  of  all  the  house  and  I  think  it  is 
very  interesting  to  remember  that  the  Chinese 
have  it  in  the  kitchen  where  it  can  keep  close 
watch,  for  most  Americans  keep  theirs  in  the 
parlour,  or  drawing-room. 

Every  Chinese  New  Year's  Day  the 
Kitchen  god  receives  special  worship  and 
food  is  placed  before  him.  After  this  is  done 
he  is  taken  off  the  wall  and  burned,  for  then 
he  is  supposed  to  go  skyward  and  tell  the 
great  God  in  heaven  all  that  he  knows  that 
is  good  about  the  family,  and,  being  a 
Kitchen  god,  he  ought  to  know.  A  new 
god  is  then  put  in  the  place  of  the  old  one 
and  he  takes  charge  until  next  New  Year's 
Day. 

If  you  ask  Miss  Hawes  why  they  do  this 
and  what  it  all  means  she  will  tell  you  some- 
thing like  this : 

"  The  Kitchen  god  was  once  a  man  named 


122    Children's  Missionary  Story- Sermons 

Chang,  who  grew  tired  of  his  wife,  though 
she  was  good  and  virtuous ;  so  he  put  her 
out  and  married  another  who  was  a  very 
base  character,  and  treated  him  so  badly  he 
was  obliged  to  leave  in  a  few  months.  Mean- 
time his  first  wife,  when  cast  out,  had  wan- 
dered sadly  away  and  out  through  the  open 
country,  when  suddenly  she  saw  shining 
lumps  on  the  ground  before  hen  She  gath- 
ered as  many  of  them  as  she  could  carry,  and 
soon  found  a  good  home  with  an  old  woman 
who  lived  alone,  for  the  shining  lumps  were 
pure  gold. 

"  Then  one  day  along  came  a  beggar,  very 
hungry  and  weary,  whom  she  recognized  at 
once  as  her  husband ;  but  he  did  not  recog- 
nize her  until  she  set  before  him  a  bowl  of 
noodle  soup,  hot  and  savoury,  such  as  she 
knew  he  liked.  Then  a  large  brass  hairpin 
fell  from  her  hair.  He  saw  it  fall  and  was  so 
overcome  with  shame  as  he  saw  it  was  one 
he  had  given  his  wife ;  and  the  thought  of 
her  serving  him,  after  he  had  cast  her  off, 
caused  him  to  faint  and  fall  into  the  fire.  So 
he  went  up  in  smoke,  and  has  ever  since  been 
worshipped  as  the  Kitchen  godc" 

That  is  the  strange  story  of  the  Kitchen 
god. 

When  the  Chinese  people  come  to  know 


The  Kitchen  God  123 

God,  the  Heavenly  Father,  they  have  some 
one  who  really  can  care  for  their  homes  and 
their  loved  ones,  for  He  is  not  a  paper  god, 
but  a  dear,  loving  Father  who  loves  and 
cares  for  His  children  everywhere,  and  who 
wherever  they  are,  dwell  in  **  Their  Father's 
House."  I  think  it  would  be  a  very  helpful 
thing  if  boys  and  girls  would  learn  some  of 
the  beautiful  verses  that  tell  of  God's  loving 
care  and  take  one  as  a  motto  for  each  day. 
Here  are  seven,  one  for  each  day  in  the  week : 

*'  Thou  God,  seest  me." 

**  He  careth  for  you." 

"  The  Lord  is  my  light." 

"  Fear  thou  not ;  for  I  am  with 

thee." 
"  Ye  are  My  disciples." 
"  Peace  I  leave  with  you." 
"  The  Lord  is  my  Keeper." 


XXXII 

Twice  a  Hero 

"  Do  it  heartily." — Col.  iii.  23. 

He  was  captain  of  the  cricket  team.  Per- 
haps you  do  not  know  what  cricket  is  ?  You 
would  laugh  at  me  if  I  said  you  did  not  know 
what  football  is,  and  you  would  think  I  had 
lost  my  mind  if  I  tried  to  tell  you  how  to  play 
baseball.  But  if  I  tried  to  tell  a  little  English 
boy  about  cricket,  he,  too,  would  laugh  at 
me  and  think  me  foolish  ;  for  cricket  is  just 
as  common  and  just  as  much  loved  in  Eng- 
land as  football  is.  The  college  boys  in  Eng" 
land  play  cricket  and  they  say  it  is  fine  sport 
It  is  something  like  baseball,  but  slower  and 
not  so  exciting.  A  man  stands  before  a 
"  wicket,"  which  is  made  of  three  sticks  set 
in  the  ground  in  a  row  with  a  little  piece  of 
wood  on  top  of  them,  and  he  keeps  guard 
with  a  flat  ball  bat  while  the  pitcher  tries  to 
hit  the  wicket  and  so  strike  him  out.  When 
the  player  hits  the  ball  he  runs  to  another 
wicket  where  another  man  keeps  guard  and 
the  two  exchange  places. 

Well,  when  he  was  at  the  great  school  of 
124 


Twice  a  Hero  1 25 

Eton,  Coley  Patteson  was  fond  of  playing 
cricket,  and  he  was  one  of  the  eleven  on  the 
college  team.  He  was  a  rich  man's  son  and 
had  a  beautiful  home  and  everything  his 
heart  could  wish.  He  was  a  quiet  fellow  and 
was  not  very  well  known  until  one  day  Eton 
had  a  championship  match  with  another 
English  school,  called  Harrow,  and  it  looked 
as  if  Eton  were  going  to  be  defeated.  Har- 
row had  a  wonderful  bowler,  or,  as  we  would 
say  in  baseball,  pitcher,  and  no  one  could 
strike  his  balls.  The  time  came  for  Coley 
Patteson  to  take  his  place  at  the  wicket.  He 
was  a  tall,  graceful  but  quiet  lad,  and  no  one 
expected  a  great  deal,  for  the  bowler  on  the 
other  side  had  had  everything  his  own  way. 

It  was  the  annual  struggle  between  the 
schools  and  there  was  a  big  crowd  and  lots 
of  noise.  But  Coley  Patteson's  bat  made 
more  noise  that  day  than  the  crowd.  Again 
and  again  he  hammered  the  ball  until  the 
people  went  wild.  There  seemed  no  stop- 
ping him.  Every  time  the  ball  came  along 
to  the  wicket,  as  if  from  a  cannon,  his  bat 
struck  it  and  a  liner  flew  across  the  field,  and 
more  runs  were  piled  up  on  Eton's  side ;  and 
before  he  was  counted  out  he  had  put  on  the 
score  for  his  side  fifty  runs  and  won  the  day 
for  his  team  and  school.    You  don't  wonder 


126    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

he  was  popular  and  the  fellows  loved  him 
and  honoured  him  and  made  him  captain  of 
the  team.  He  was  a  hero !  That  game 
closed  the  cricket  season,  and  all  that  re- 
mained was  the  annual  banquet  and  jollifica- 
tion, with  speeches  and  college  "  yells  "  and 
songs. 

Those  banquets  were  not  always  quiet  and 
innocent  affairs,  for  sometimes  some  of  the 
faster  set  did  things  and  said  things  and 
sang  things  that  were  not  right.  Before  the 
annual  banquet  took  place  when  Coley  Pat- 
teson  was  captain,  he  told  the  fellows  that  if 
anybody  sang  a  song  that  was  not  clean,  and 
in  which  all  the  boys  could  not  join,  he  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  them.  Everything 
went  off  all  right  until  one  of  the  fellows,  try- 
ing to  test  out  the  new  captain,  began  to  sing 
an  offensive  song,  as  had  been  often  done  in 
the  past.  Coley  Patteson  immediately  was 
on  his  feet  and  cried,  "  If  that  doesn't  stop,  I 
shall  leave  the  room."  The  song  did  not 
stop,  and  Patteson,  the  captain,  left  the  room 
before  the  fellows  understood  what  had  hap- 
pened. You  can  easily  imagine  that  the 
banquet  was  not  a  very  joyous  one  after  that, 
and  there  were  no  more  such  songs  that 
night.  The  men  were  ashamed,  but  next 
morning,  when  it  leaked  out  that  the  captain 


Twice  a  Hero  i2j 

had  resigned,  there  was  more  than  shame ; 
there  was  fear  of  failure  next  year. 

The  fellows  agreed  that  Coley  Patteson 
had  done  right,  and  that  his  resignation 
should  not  be  accepted  ;  so  they  crowded  into 
his  room  and  the  man  who  had  disobeyed 
him  and  hurt  him  apologized,  and  next  year 
he  led  them  again  to  victory.  From  that 
day  to  this  there  has  been  a  change  in  the 
annual  school  banquet  at  Eton,  and  a  new 
sort  of  heroism  among  the  boys  has  come 
into  fashion  ;  for  it  takes  more  moral  courage 
to  overcome  temptation  and  do  the  right 
thing  than  it  does  to  be  a  great  ball  player. 

I  would  like  to  tell  you  what  Coley  Pat- 
teson did  with  his  life.  It  is  a  long  story 
but  I  can  tell  you  in  a  few  words  enough  to 
make  you  want  to  hear  more.  He  went  to 
Oxford  University  and  later  became  a  min- 
ister of  the  Gospel,  which  was  his  mother's 
dearest  desire  for  him.  Then  he  became  a 
missionary  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  be- 
came Bishop  of  that  far-away  parish.  There 
he  worked  and  there  he  was  killed  by  the 
wicked  natives  who  shot  five  arrows  into  his 
body,  to  tell  the  white  men  who  had  treated 
the  natives  badly  that  this  was  the  way  they 
took  vengeance  for  the  five  natives  who  had 
been  stolen  by  the  white  traders.     His  body 


128    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

with  its  five  wounds  was  sent  adrift  upon  the 
sea  in  an  open  canoe  and  found  by  his  friends. 
Years  afterwards  the  chief  of  the  tribe,  among 
whom  he  had  lost  his  life,  told  his  friends  all 
about  it ;  told  of  his  bravery  and  his  kindness 
and  his  great  love  and  how  they  had 
punished  the  men  who  had  killed  the  great 
bishop,  the  friend  of  his  people.  On  the 
very  spot  where  he  fell,  the  native  people,  for 
whom  he  lived  and  died,  erected  a  beautiful 
memorial  cross  which  faces  the  sea,  and  on 
which  they  had  the  words  inscribed : 

In  memory  of 

John  Coleridge  Patteson^  D.  D, 

Missionary  Bishop 

Whose  life  zvas  here  taken  by  men  for 
whom  he  would  gladly  have  given  it. 


XXXIII 

The  Consecrated  Cobbler 

"  Praise  the  Lord  with  me.'* — Psalm  xxxiv.  3. 

William  Carey  was  a  cobbler.  He  was 
always  proud  of  it.  Outside  his  litde  shop 
there  was  a  sign-board  ; 

"  Second  Hand  Shoes  Bought  and  Sold 
William  Carey J^ 

They  called  his  shop  "  Mr.  Carey's  Col- 
lege." He  had  a  map  of  the  world  on  the 
wall,  and  he  studied  about  the  world  and 
talked  about  the  world  and  prayed  about  the 
world,  and  his  friends  thought  he  was  crazy. 

Then  he  became  a  teacher,  and  then  a  vil- 
lage preacher,  and  was  paid  a  salary  of  $80 
a  year  for  doing  the  work  of  both  teacher 
and  preacher. 

One  day  when  the  Baptist  ministers  of  the 
district  were  in  conference  he  preached  to 
them  from  the  text  Isaiah  liv.  2,  3,  and  he 
had  two  great  thoughts  in  his  sermon  : 

First :  Expect  great  things  from  God. 

Second  :  Attempt  great  things  for  God. 

Then  and  there  the  Baptist  Missionary 
129 


130    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Society  was  formed  and  Carey  became  the 
first  missionary. 

Old  Andrew  Fuller  said :  "  There  is  a 
gold  mine  in  India,  but  it  seems  as  deep  as 
the  centre  of  the  earth  :  who  will  venture  to 
explore  it  ?  '*  And  William  Carey  promptly 
replied,  "  I  will  go  down,  but  remember,  you 
must  hold  the  ropes." 

This  is  how  William  Carey  the  cobbler  be- 
came the  first  and  the  greatest  of  missionaries 
to  India.     And  his  friends  held  the  rope. 

Years  passed  by  and  once  again  Andrew 
Fuller  was  preaching  before  the  Missionary 
Society  that  Carey's  sermon  had  created,  and 
they  were  all  rejoicing  in  the  good  news  from 
India  and  the  triumph  of  the  Gospel  there 
under  the  "Consecrated  Cobbler."  Not 
only  was  Mr.  Carey  a  missionary  but  his  two 
sons,  Felix  and  William,  were  also  Christian 
workers  in  the  mission. 

One  of  the  ministers  had  been  telling  about 
these  two  sons,  and  then  he  said,  ''  But  there 
is  the  third  who  gives  him  pain ;  he  is  not 
yet  turned  to  the  Lord."  With  tears  flow- 
ing down  his  face  the  minister  who  had 
spoken  said,  **  Brethren,  let  us  send  up  a 
united  fervent  prayer  to  God  in  solemn 
silence  for  the  conversion  of  Jabez  Carey." 
jabez  is  such  an  odd  name,  but  that  was  the 


The  Consecrated  Cobbler  131 


4^ 


name  of  the  wayward  son  who  gave  his 
father  pain  in  the  far-off  mission  home  in 
India.  Every  one  present  prayed.  A  deep 
quiet  fell  upon  them  all  and  they  knew  God 
was  near  and  was  hearing.  Did  anything 
happen?  When  they  prayed  in  England, 
did  anything  happen  in  India  ?     Well,  listen. 

The  next  letter  that  came  from  the  mission 
field  told  the  story  of  the  change  that  had 
come  over  Jabez.  His  father  told  when  it 
had  happened,  and  they  knew  it  was  the 
very  day,  the  very  hour,  when  they  had  all 
been  in  prayer  for  him.  Immediately  Jabez 
Carey  decided  that  he  too  must  be  a  mis- 
sionary, and  one  day  Dr.  Carey  and  his  two 
missionary  sons,  Felix  and  William,  laid  their 
hands  on  the  head  of  Jabez,  and  in  prayer 
ordained  him  to  the  gospel  ministry. 

What  a  happy  family  they  were  1 

No  wonder  Dr.  Carey  wrote  to  his  friends ; 
**  Oh,  praise  the  Lord  with  me,  and  let  us  exalt 
His  name  together.  To  me  the  Lord  has  been 
very  gracious.  I  trust  all  my  children  love 
the  Lord  ;  and  three  out  of  four  are  actually 
engaged  in  the  important  work  of  preaching 
the  Gospel,  two  of  them  in  new  countries." 

Let  us,  toe,  say  with  him,  **Oh,  praise  the 
Lord  with  me,  and  let  us  exalt  His  name  to 
gether." 


XXXIV 

No  Room  for  Barbarians 

'*I  am  debtor  to     .     .     .     the  barbarians." 
— Romans  i.  14. 

When  I  was  a  student  in  the  University 
of  Toronto  I  remember  hearing  a  thrilling 
story  from  a  returned  missionary.  His  name 
was  George  L.  Mackay.  I  was  interested  in 
him.  He  was  the  first  missionary  ever  sent 
out  by  the  Canadian  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  had  just  returned  from  the  island  of 
Formosa,  with  his  Chinese  wife.  Long  ago 
he  had  been  received  as  a  missionary  at  the 
General  Assembly  which  met  in  Quebec,  in 
187 1,  and  that  assembly,  as  he  tells  us,  was 
more  interested  in  such  "  burning  questions  " 
as  to  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong  to  use 
an  organ  in  church  worship  than  it  was  in 
missionaries  and  the  people  on  the  other  side 
of  the  world. 

I  remember  how  he  held  in  his  hand  a 
little  Bible,  on  the  first  page  of  which  was 
V  ritten : 

132 


No  Room  for  Barbarians  133 

Presented  to 
Rev,  G,  L,  Mackay 

First  mv nonary  of  the  Cauadiati  Presbyterian  Church 
to  China  h)  the  Foreign  Mission  Committee  as  a  parting 
token  of  their  esteem  when  about  to  leave  //. .  uative  la.;d 
for  the  sphe  j  of  his  future  labours  among  the  herthen, 

William  MacLaren. 

gth  October t  iSyi, 
Matthew  xxviii.  18-20,  Psalm  cxxu 


And  now  let  me  tell  you  a  story  about  him. 

One  day  he  came  to  the  village  of  Lam- 
hong-o.  It  was  nearly  dark  and  he  and  his 
helpers  had  to  hold  on  to  the  rocks  and  slide 
down  to  the  ground,  for  the  village  was  sur- 
rounded by  steep  cliffs,  and  the  people  were 
very  warlike  and  very  wicked.  *'  The  rain 
was  raining  all  around,"  and  they  had  no 
place  to  eat  or  sleep.  At  the  first  house  they 
knocked  the  reply  was,  "  No  room  here  for 
barbarians."  How  would  you  like  to  be 
called  a  barbarian?  They  went  to  another 
and  another  and  another,  and  the  answer 
was  always  the  same,  "  No  room  here  for 
barbarians."  The  night  was  dark.  The 
great  Pacific  Ocean  was  storm  tossed.  The 
mountains  were  to  the  south  ;  the  savages  all 
around  them.  They  wandered  on  through 
the  village  until  they  came  to  a  house  where 
a  man  lived  of  whom  they  had  heard.     Here 


134    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

was  their  last  hope.  They  knocked  and  the 
door  opened.  '*  No  room  here  for  barba- 
rians," was  the  quick  reply,  and  the  door  was 
slammed  in  their  faces.  There  they  stood  in 
the  dark  and  the  rain.  What  could  they  do  ? 
God  must  have  spoken  to  that  man's  heart, 
for  suddenly  the  door  opened  and  a  voice 
cried,  "  It  is  very  stormy.  You  can  go  to 
the  ox  stable  if  you  like."  Indeed,  they  did 
like,  and  there  among  the  water  buflaloes 
they  lay  down  in  the  dry  rice  straw.  They 
could  hardly  believe  their  eyes  when  the 
Chinese  owner  came  with  a  light  and  a  bowl 
of  warm  rice  and  refused  to  take  any  money. 
They  slept  on  the  straw  and  were  satisfied 
and  safe. 

It  is  too  long  a  story  to  tell  you  all  that 
happened  next  morning,  and  how,  little  by 
little,  they  made  friends  with  the  people  of 
that  village ;  but  it  will  not  take  me  long  to 
tell  you  that  if  you  will  go  to  that  little  sea- 
girt village  of  Lam-hong-o,  on  the  island  of 
Formosa,  you  will  find  there  a  pretty  little 
^church  which  is  called  "The  Mackay  Church," 
and  there  the  people  gather  and  worship. 
Sometimes  they  gather  and  worship,  and 
sometimes  they  have  gathered  and  watched  ; 
for  the  women  and  children  have  often  slept 
on  the  tile  floors  of  that  little  church  in  fear 


No  Room  for  Barbarianb  135 

of  the  savages  who  lived  up  over  the  hills  ; 
and  often  and  often  Dr.  Mackay  preached  to 
those  people,  and  they  would  weep  bitter 
tears  when  they  thought  of  the  dark  stormy 
night  he  had  knocked  at  their  doors  and 
they  had  bidden  him  be  off,  saying,  **  No 
room  here  for  barbarians." 

You  will,  I  hope,  not  forget  the  name  of 
Mackay  of  Formosa,  and  will  not  get  his 
name  mixed  with  that  of  MacKay  of  Uganda, 
who  was  King  Mutesa's  friend,  and  you  will 
remember  that  the  same  Gospel  made  clean 
hands  and  happy  hearts  in  the  island  of 
Formosa,  ofl  the  coast  of  China,  as  it  did  in 
Uganda  in  the  heart  of  Africa.  It  was  Paul 
who  said  that  he  owed  even  the  barbarians  a 
debt.  He  meant  that  he  owed  them  the 
message  of  the  Gospel,  and  until  he  paid 
that  debt  his  heart  could  not  have  peace,  and 
wherever  the  Gospel  goes,  all  false  barriers 
between  God's  children  fall  and  then  **  there 
cannot  be  Greek  and  Jew,  Barbarian,  Scyth- 
ian, Bondman,  Freeman,  but  Christ  is  all  and 
in  all." 


XXXV 

A  Bible  Lost  at  Sea 

'*  upon  the  waters." — Eccl.  xi.  I. 

I  REMEMBER  reading  how  a  poor  woman 
in  Bohemia  saved  her  Bible  by  hiding  it  in- 
side a  loaf  of  bread  she  was  baking  and  then 
putting  it  into  the  oven,  and  when  the  priests 
came  to  search  her  house  they  found  no  trace 
of  it.  But  I  know  a  stranger  story  than  tnat. 
It  is  about  a  Bible  lost  at  sea.  Would  you 
like  to  hear  it  ? 

Somebody  dropped  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  overboard  and  it  fell  into  the  sea* 
It  belonged,  I  think,  to  some  tourist  or  vis- 
itor who  had  been  reading  it  on  deck  and  the 
wind  had  suddenly  lifted  it  out  of  his  hands, 
and  it  was  carried  out  on  the  deep  sea  and  fell 
face  down  upon  the  waves.  There  it  floated 
like  a  little  boat.  How  long  it  floated  I  do 
not  know  ;  perhaps  only  a  few  hours,  perhaps 
for  days.  It  was  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo.  I 
wonder  if  you  can  find  that  bay  on  the  map  ? 
If  you  will  look  around  the  coast  of  Japan 
petnaps  you  will  find  it.  I  suppose  the  sea- 
gulls pecked  at  it  and  thought  it  was  bread, 
136 


A  Bible  Lost  at  Sea  137 

and  the  fish  played  around  it,  and  nobody 
might  ever  have  heard  of  it  had  not  God 
meant  to  use  it.     And  so  it  was  found. 

It  was  found  by  a  Japanese  soldier  whose 
name  was  Wakasa. 

He  was  commander  of  the  army  at  Naga- 
saki. 

One  day  he  noticed  something  floating  on 
the  waves  and  set  about  to  get  it. 

He  was  interested  in  it  immediately,  for  it 
was  a  strange  thing  to  find  floating  on  the 
sea. 

He  turned  its  wet  pages  but  he  could  not 
read  it.  It  was  not  printed  in  his  language. 
It  was  printed  in  English  and  it  was  not 
printed  like  any  other  book  he  had  ever  seen. 
It  seemed  to  be  broken  up  into  chapters  and 
little  verses,  each  of  which  was  numbered. 

He  was  a  cultured  gentleman  and  he  de- 
cided to  find  out  what  this  strange  book  he 
so  strangely  found  was.  He  discovered  that 
it  was  the  Christians'  Bible. 

The  Japanese  hated  the  Christians  and 
there  was  at  that  time  no  Protestant  Chris- 
tian in  all  Japan.  Indeed  there  was  a  fearful 
old  law  which  read  : 

**  So  long  as  the  sun  shall  warm  the 
earth  let  no  Christian  be  so  bold  as  to 
come  to  Japan ;  and  let  us  know  that  the 


138    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

king  of  Spain  himself  or  the  Christian's 
God,  or  the  great  God  of  all,  if  he  violate 
this  command  shall  pay  for  it  with  his 
head." 

This  only  made  the  strange  book  more  in- 
teresting and  curious  and,  being  a  soldier,  he 
knew  no  fear ;  so  Mr.  Wakasa  sent  to 
Shanghai  over  in  China  and  got  a  Chinese 
copy  of  the  book  he  had  found.  He  read  it 
through.  He  was  interested  and  he  read  it 
through  again.  He  read  it  again  and  then  he 
wanted  to  have  some  one  to  tell  him  about  it. 

There  was  only  one  man  to  whom  he  could 
go.  His  name  was  Dr.  G.  F.  Verbeck.  He 
had  been  a  little  Dutch  boy,  but  was  then  a 
great  scholar  and  an  American  missionary  in 
Japan. 

He,  too,  lived  at  Nagasaki,  and  so  the  Jap- 
anese officer  found  him  and  asked  him  to  ex- 
plain the  book  to  him. 

How  glad  he  was  to  do  so  I 

Wakasa  grew  more  and  more  interested. 
He  later  said  he  was  **  filled  with  admiration, 
overwhelmed  with  emotion  and  taken  captive 
by  the  nature  and  life  of  Jesus  Christ."  So  it 
happened  that  before  he  really  was  aware  he 
was  a  Christian,  and  in  1866  he  was  baptized 
by  Dn  Verbeck  and  was  the  first  Japanese 
Protestant  Christian  in  all  Japan. 


A  Bible  Lost  at  Sea  1 39 

Two  of  his  friends  followed  him,  and  they, 
too,  were  baptized  ;  and  now  there  are  hun- 
dreds of  churches  and  thousands  of  Chris- 
tians in  the  beautiful  land  of  Japan,  and  it  all 
began  from  a  Bible  that  had  fallen  into  the 
sea.  It  is  wonderful  how  great  things  grow 
out  of  little  things.  The  mighty  oak  comes 
from  the  little  acorn,  and  the  golden  harvest 
from  a  few  sacks  of  grain,  and  sometimes  a 
life  is  changed  by  a  little  touch  of  kindness, 
or  a  little  word  of  love. 

**  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters. 
Thinking  not  'tis  thrown  away ; 
God  Himself  saith,  thou  shalt  gather 
It  again  some  coming  day." 

That  is  the  sermon  and  the  text  is  this : 

"  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,  for  thou 
shalt  find  it  after  many  days." 


XXXVI 

Queen  Victoria  and  the  Little  Slave  Girl 

"  A  little  maid." — 2  Kings  v.  2. 

What  an  awful  thing  slavery  was  !  We 
can  hardly  believe  that,  within  the  memory 
of  some  now  living,  men  and  women  and 
children  were  sold  like  sheep  and  oxen  in  the 
market.  This  was  true  even  in  our  own  fair 
and  beautiful  America ;  but  it  was  worse, 
much  worse,  in  other  lands,  for  in  our  land 
very  often  the  slaves  had  kind  Christian 
masters  and  happy  homes.  In  Africa,  how* 
ever,  the  masters  were  cruel  and  wicked,  and 
many  of  the  black  people  were  killed  and 
their  homes  destroyed. 

If  you  will  look  on  the  map  of  Africa  you 
will  find  a  little  country  called  Dahomey,  and 
the  old  king  of  that  country  was  a  slave 
keeper  Whenever  he  made  war  he  brought 
home  hundreds  of  slaves,  some  of  whom  were 
killed  for  heathen  sacrifices  and  some  were 
sold.  The  good  queen  of  England,  Queen 
Victoria,  was  very  angry  with  him  for  his 
wicked  wars  and  his  cruel  slavery,  and  sent 
a  great  war-ship,  the  Bojietta,  under  the  care 
of  Commander  Forbes,  and  he  was  told  to 
14a 


Queen  Victoria  and  the  Little  Slave  Girl  141 

try  and  make  the  wicked  king  change  his 
wicked  ways.  But  the  king  was  not  to  be 
changed,  and  even  while  there  Commander 
Forbes  saw  the  king,  with  his  own  hands, 
throw  fourteen  men,  dressed  in  white,  over 
an  awful  precipice.  This  was  done  as  a  sac- 
rifice to  the  heathen  gods. 

Not  only  did  Captain  Forbes  fail  to  make 
the  king  stop  his  wicked  ways,  but  he  re- 
ceived from  the  king  a  little  black  girl  three 
or  four  years  old.  She  was  a  clave  girl  who 
was  being  kept  for  one  of  the  kin^^'s  cruel  sac- 
rifices. She  was  very  pretty  and  was  given 
by  the  king  to  the  captain  of  the  Bo7tetta  as 
a  present  to  his  queen.  He  thought,  I  sup- 
pose, that  Queen  Victoria  had  slaves  too,  and 
so  he  sent  her  a  little  black  African  slave  as 
a  present.  As  soon  as  she  was  given  to  the 
queen,  of  course  she  was  free,  but  the  great 
queen  never  forgot  the  little  slave  girl. 

She  was  sent  to  the  mission  school  and 
there  educated.  When  she  became  a  Chris- 
tian, she  was  baptized  and  was  given  the 
name  Sarah  Forbes  Bonetta.  You  see 
Bonetta  was  the  name  of  the  ship  that  had 
rescued  her,  and  Forbes  was  the  name  of  the 
good  kind  commander  of  the  ship,  and  Sarah, 
I  suppose,  was  his  wife's  name.  I  said  the 
queen  never  forgot  her.     She  had  little  Sarah 


142    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

come  to  England  after  she  had  been  partly 
trained  in  the  Church  Missionary  F'emale  In- 
stitute at  Sierra  Leone,  in  Africa,  and  was 
placed  in  a  Christian  home  in  England,  and 
carefully  taught  everything  the  children  of 
England  were. 

Every  Christmas  and  midsummer  she  went 
to  the  palace  where  the  queen  made  her 
home  and  spent  two  or  three  happy  weeks. 
One  wonders  how  the  litt)e  black  girl,  who 
once  had  been  a  slave,  would  feel  in  the  pal- 
ace of  the  great  white  queen.  But  I  know 
she  was  happy,  for  the  queen  was  kind  to 
her,  and  every  time  she  went  she  received  a 
lovely  present.  Once  she  received  a  gold 
watch,  and  another  time  a  beautiful  turquoise 
ring,  and  another  time  a  wonderful  gold 
bracelet  with  the  words  engraved  on  it : 
*'  From  Queen  Victoria  to  Sarah  Forbes 
Bonetta."  When  the  Prince  of  Wales,  who 
became  Edward  VII,  was  married,  Sarah  was 
invited  to  the  wedding ,  the  queen  sent  her 
a  wonderful  dress  to  wear  and  she  was  given 
a  special  seat  among  the  guests.  When  she 
became  a  young  woman  she  was  married  to 
a  Christian  man  from  Africa,  and  there  in 
the  country  of  Lagos,  near  the  home  of  the 
old  wicked  king  of  Dahomey,  she  lived  and 
was  a  great  helper  in  the  missionary  work  of 


Queen  Victoria  and  the  Little  Slave  Girl  143 

that  country.  She  had  a  little  girl  of  her 
own  who  was  called  by  the  beautiful  name 
of  Victoria — Victoria  Davis,  and  the  queen 
loved  them  and  never  forgot  them  in  their 
far-off  African  home. 

One  hardly  knows  which  one  to  admire 
most,  the  great  queen  or  the  little  slave  girl 
who  became  a  useful  woman.  We  admire 
the  little  slave  girl,  who  became  such  a  sweet 
and  lovable  Christian  that  everybody  was 
kind  to  her ;  but  we  also  admire  the  great 
English  queen  who,  busy  with  a  hundred 
things  every  day,  had  time  and  love  enough 
for  a  little  black  slave  girl. 

I  think  the  greatest  wonder  of  all  is  the 
power  of  the  Gospel  to  make  both  a  great 
queen  and  a  poor  little  slave  girl  sweet  and 
kind  and  winsome.  The  book  that  tells  this 
and  other  stories  of  slave  times  is  the  "  Life 
of  Samuel  Crowther,"  who  was  himself  a 
little  African  slave  boy,  who  had  been  car- 
ried off  from  his  home  and  afterwards  res- 
cued. He  became  a  Christian  and  a  mis- 
sionary and  was  the  first  black  man  in  Africa 
to  be  made  a  bishop. 

And  the  story  of  Bishop  Samuel  Crowther, 
the  slave  boy,  is  only  another  wonderful 
story  of  the  power  of  Jesus  to  make  bad  men 
gOG^      Thftre  is  nothing  too  hard  for  Him. 


XXXVII 

The  Missionary  with  the  White  Hair 

*'  His  hair     .     .     .     white  as  snow." — Rev.  i.  14. 

He  was  the  oldest  child,  and  they  called 
his  name  John.  He  was  a  Scotch  boy  and 
they  gave  him  the  Scotch  middle  name  of 
Gibson.  He  was  the  eldest  son  in  the  family 
of  eleven  children,  and  each  one,  of  course, 
had  the  same  last  name  of  Paton.  His  own 
full  name  was  John  Gibson  Paton. 

He  was  born  in  a  poor  but  very  happy 
home.  His  father  was  a  dear,  good  man, 
and  his  children  loved  him.  Often  and  often 
he  prayed  that  they  might  grow  up  to  be 
good  and  useful  men.  They  were  poor,  and 
once  there  was  nothing  to  eat  in  the  home, 
and  the  children  were  coaxed  off  to  bed 
hungry  and  unfed ;  but  next  day  a  visitor 
came  with  potatoes  and  flour  and  cheese,  and 
Mrs.  Paton  gathered  her  children  around  her 
knees  and  said,  "  O  my  children,  love  your 
Heavenly  Father;  tell  Him  in  faith  and 
prayer  all  your  needs  and  He  will  supply 
your  wants  so  far  as  it  shall  be  for  your  good 
144 


The  Missionary  with  the  White  Hair    145 

and  His  glory."  You  do  not  wonder  that 
the  children  all  grew  up  to  be  good  men  1 

John,  the  oldest,  however,  became  not  only 
good  but  great.  I  remember  seeing  him 
when  he  was  an  old  man.  I  will  never  for- 
get how  wonderful  he  was.  His  long  hair 
and  beard  were  as  white  as  the  whitest  snow, 
and  his  voice  like  the  sweetest  music.  There 
are  no  books  in  the  world  so  interesting  and 
so  thrilling  as  the  story  of  his  life.  He  was  a 
missionary  for  years  and  years  in  the  New 
Hebrides  Islands  in  the  South  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  the  change  brought  about  by  his  work 
there  reads  like  one  of  the  Bible  stories  of  the 
New  Testament. 

When  he  was  a  lad  he  longed  to  study, 
but  his  parents  were  too  poor  to  pay  for  his 
education,  and  he  had  to  work.  Once  he 
saved  enough  to  go  to  school  for  six  weeks, 
and  they  were  precious  weeks  for  him,  but  he 
returned  to  work  and  studied  at  night  and  on 
rainy  days. 

He  found  work  with  a  company  of  govern- 
ment engineers  who  were  testing  the  land 
near  his  home,  and  walked  four  miles  every 
morning  and  evening  to  and  from  his  work, 
using  his  evenings  for  study.  When  lunch 
time  came,  instead  of  playing  football  and 
other   games   like   the   rest  of   the  boys,  he 


146    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

found  a  quiet  corner  on  the  river  bank  and 
worked  away  at  his  bool<:s.  He  did  not 
know  he  was  being  watched,  but  his  em- 
ployer's home  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river,  and  he  became  much  interested  in  the 
lad  who  was  so  fond  of  books  and  study. 
One  day  his  master  called  him  to  his  office 
and  asked  him  what  he  was  studying.  John 
was  surprised  but  told  him  the  w^hole  truth. 
The  officer  was  much  interested  and  next  day 
told  him  he  would  send  him  to  Woolwich  to 
the  government  school  and  pay  all  his  ex- 
penses if  he  would  sign  an  agreement  to  re- 
main with  him  for  seven  years.  This  was  a 
fine  chance  and  one  which  even  rich  boys 
would  gladly  have  accepted  ;  but  John  Paton 
had  other  plans,  so  he  refused  and  thanked 
the  officer  for  his  kindness. 

The  officer  was  surprised  and  a  little  angry, 
and  asked  him  why  he  would  not  accept  so 
good  an  offer. 

"  Because,"  said  the  lad,  "  my  life  is  given 
to  another  Master,  and  so  I  cannot  engage 
for  seven  years." 

"  To  whom  ?  "  said  the  officer  bluntly 

The  boy,  unafraid,  promptly  replied,  **  To 
the  Lord  Jesus,  and  I  want  to  prepare  as  soon 
as  possible  for  His  service  in  preaching  the 
Gospel." 


The  Missionary  with  the  White  Hair    147 

The  man  was  very,  very  angry  and  said  in 
a  loud  voice,  "  Accept  my  offer,  or  you  are 
dismissed  on  the  spot." 

And  dismissed  he  was,  for  John  would  not 
change  his  mind,  and  told  the  man  that  if  he 
accepted  the  position  he  would  have  to  give 
up  his  hope  of  becoming  a  minister,  and  he 
would  not  do  that.  After  thanking  the  officer 
for  his  good  intentions  he  received  his  pay, 
packed  up  all  his  belongings  and  went  back 
home,  sad  and  heavy  of  heart.  He  had  no 
work  and  not  enough  money  to  pay  for  his 
schooling.  It  looked  as  if  he  had  come  to 
the  iron  gate  and  found  it  closed  in  his  face ; 
but  when  he  came  closer  he  found  that  it 
stood  open,  for  some  of  his  friends  heard 
what  had  happened  and  how  brave  and  good 
he  had  been,  and  they  offered  him  other 
work,  and  were  so  interested  that  in  the  fall 
he  secured  a  position  with  a  church  in  Glas- 
gow where  he  could  act  as  a  visitor  among 
the  poor  and  at  the  same  time  go  to  college. 

In  time  he  finished  his  studies  and  became  a 
minister  and  went  far  away  as  a  missionary  un- 
til he  became  so  successful  that,  when  he  re- 
turned home,  thousands  went  to  hear  him  tell 
about  his  work  in  the  South  Sea  Islands. 
Some  day  I  will  tell  you  more  about  this  man 
whom  his  friends  called  St.  John  of  the  New 


148    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

HebrideSo  When  he  left  for  his  island  home 
among  the  naked  savages  of  New  Hebrides 
Islands,  he  was  thirty-two  years  old.  That 
was  in  1857.  He  died  in  1907,  and  if  you 
will  subtract  1857  from  1907  you  will  find  that 
Dr.  Paton  lived  and  worked  for  fifty  years 
among  these  people,  thousands  of  whom  be- 
came real  Christians  and  were  his  loyal  and 
true  friends. 

Every  boy  and  girl  ought  to  have  a  pur- 
pose in  life.  God  has  a  plan  for  every 
child's  life,  and  each  of  us  ought  to  try  to 
discover  that  plan  and  fulfill  God's  wish  for 
uSo  If  we  try,  God  will  surely  guide  us.  It 
is  a  good  thing  to  have  a  purpose  and  stick 
to  it.  Years  ago  in  Sunday-school  we  used 
to  sing  a  hymn  that  stirred  the  thoughts 
of  the  boys  to  do  and  to  dare.  It  is  still 
worth  singing.  It  is  about  Daniel  and  his 
fine  courage  and  this  is  the  chorus : 

*'  Dare  to  be  a  Daniel, 
Dare  to  stand  alone, 
Dare  to  have  a  purpose  true 
And  dare  to  make  it  known.'* 


XXXVIII 

The  Wonderful  Well 

**  Spring  up,  O  well." — Numbers  xxi.  17. 

Aniwa  is  the  name  of  a  little  island  in  the 
South  Pacific  Ocean.  It  was  there  John  G. 
Paton,  the  wonderful  missionary  with  the 
beautiful  white  hair,  lived  for  many  years. 
The  island  is  less  than  nine  miles  long  and 
three  and  a  half  wide,  and  is  girdled  with  a 
belt  of  coral  reef.  "  The  sea  breaks  heavily, 
with  thundering  roar,  and  the  white  surf  rolls 
in,  furious  and  far.  But  there  are  days  of 
calm,  when  all  the  sea  is  glass,  and  the  spray 
on  the  reef  is  only  a  fringe  of  silver." 

There  was  one  thing  about  this  beautiful 
island  which  made  it  not  a  very  pleasant 
place  for  a  missionary  to  live.  I  am  not 
thinking  of  the  wild  and  wicked  people  who 
made  it  their  home,  for  they  soon  became  his 
best  friends.  I  am  thinking  of  something 
else.  There  was  no  good  water  on  the 
island,  and  nobody  can  get  along  without 
water.  "How  did  the  natives  live  there 
then  ? "  you  ask.  Well,  they  gathered  the 
rain  when  it  fell,  and  drank  of  the  dirty  water 
149 


ijo    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

that  remained  in  the  pools  in  the  swamps ; 
but  the  best  water  they  had  was  the  cocoa- 
nut, — the  apple  of  Paradise  for  all  the  South- 
ern Islands.  They  would  break  the  nut  and 
drink  of  the  milk-like  water.  They  had  also 
sugar  cane,  and  would  chew  at  it  when  they 
were  thirsty  instead  of  seeking  a  drink  of 
water. 

Dr.  Paton  soon  found  that  something  must 
be  done  U  he  expected  to  live  on  Aniwa,  and 
he  decided  to  dig  a  well.  The  people  of 
course  never  heard  of  such  a  thing ;  and 
when  the  missionary  told  the  old  chief  that 
he  was  going  to  sink  a  deep  well  into  the 
earth,  to  see  if  God  would  send  forth  water 
up  from  below,  the  old  chief  looked  at  him 
and  said,  ''  O  Missi,  your  head  is  going 
wrong ;  you  are  losing  something,  or  you 
would  not  talk  like  that.  Don't  let  our 
people  hear  you  talking  like  that,  or  they 
will  never  listen  to  your  word  or  believe  you 
again."  But  the  well  was  started  and  the 
natives  gathered  around  to  see  the  mission- 
ary digging  into  the  earth  to  find  rain. 
They  all  thought  he  had  lost  his  mind  and 
was  crazy.  Dr.  Paton  was  not  very  strong 
and  he  grew  weary  and  tired,  and  so  he 
planned  to  get  the  natives  to  help  him  ;  and 
help  him  they  did,  and  he  was  able,  like  Tom 


The  Wonderful  Well  151 

Sawyer,  to  look  on  while  others  worked. 
This  is  how  he  did  it.  He  brought  a  box  of 
fish  hooks  from  his  home  and  showed  them 
to  the  people  and  said  :  **  One  of  them  to 
every  man  who  fills  and  turns  over  three 
buckets  out  of  this  hole."  They  all  wanted 
to  take  their  turn  and  soon  the  well  was 
down  twelve  feet. 

One  morning  when  they  came  to  begin 
work  the  sides  had  fallen  in  and  the  work 
had  to  be  begun  over  again  ;  and,  what  was 
worse,  the  natives  now  were  so  frightened 
that  they  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
The  old  chief  begged  the  missionary  to  stop^ 
saying  he  was  only  digging  his  own  grave 
and  that  rain  would  never  come  up  from 
below.  But  Dr.  Paton  was  not  to  be  turned 
from  his  task,  for  he  knew  that  he  needed 
water,  and  he  also  knew  if  God  would  give 
him  fresh  water  from  the  earth  the  natives 
would  believe  His  Word  and  follow  Him  al- 
ways. He  toiled  on  alone  until  the  well 
was  thirty  feet  deep  and  the  earth  was  be- 
coming moist.  He  feared  the  water  might 
be  salt  and  all  his  work  for  naught,  but  he 
worked  away,  and  the  words  **  living  water  " 
kept  singing  themselves  like  music  in  his 
<loul. 

One  evening  he  said  to  the  old  chief, — "  I 


152    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

think  God  will  give  us  water  to-morrow  from 
that  hole."  The  chief  said,  *'  No,  Missi ;  you 
will  never  see  rain  coming  up  from  the  earth. 
We  expect  to  see  you  some  day  drop  through 
into  the  sea  and  the  sharks  will  eat  you." 
Next  morning  the  missionary  began  his 
work  at  daybreak  and  dug  a  little  hole  two 
feet  deep  in  the  bottom  of  the  well,  and  sud- 
denly the  water  rushed  up  and  began  to  fill 
the  hole.  Muddy  as  it  was  he  tasted  it,  and 
in  his  great  delight  the  cup  fell  from  his 
hand,  and  in  that  muddy  well  he  gave  praise 
to  God  who  had  answered  his  prayer.  It 
was  water  !  It  was  living  water  !  The  people 
gathered  around  the  well,  and  the  old  chief 
looked  at  the  water  in  the  cup  and  then 
touched  it  to  see  if  it  were  really  water,  and 
then  tasted  it,  and  then  drank  it,  and  then  he 
shouted  :  "  Rain  !  Rain  !  Yes,  it  is  rain ! 
But  how  did  you  get  it  ?  "  The  happy  mis- 
sionary said,  ''  God  gave  it  to  me  out  of  your 
own  earth  in  answer  to  our  labours  and  our 
prayers.     Go  and  see  it  for  yourselves." 

To  them  it  was  a  miracle  and  they  ex- 
claimed, "  Missi,  wonderful,  wonderful  is  the 
work  of  your  Jehovah  God !  No  God  of 
Aniwa  ever  helped  us  in  this  way."  And  it 
was  a  miracle,  for  all  through  the  years  the 
well  gave  forth  fresh  water ;  and  although 


The  Wonderful  Well  153 

the  natives  tried  to  sink  six  or  seven  wells 
they  either  came  to  the  coral  rock,  or  the 
water  they  found  was  salt.  The  well  is  still 
there — thirty-four  feet  deep,  eight  feet  wide 
at  the  top  and  six  feet  at  the  bottom,  with  a 
lining  of  solid  masonry  built  from  the  coral 
blocks  the  natives  carried  from  the  shore  a 
third  of  a  mile  away.  But  this  is  not  all  of 
the  story.  The  best  is  yet  to  tell.  Next 
Sunday  the  chief  wanted  to  preach.  The 
people  of  the  island  came  to  see  their  chief 
turned  missionary  and  to  hear  him  preach. 
It  was  a  great  sermon, — one  of  the  greatest 
that  was  ever  preached.  He  told  the  people 
that  since  Jehovah  God  had  given  them  rain 
from  the  earth,  he  was  ready  to  give  up  his 
heathen  idols  and  believe  in  the  Christian 
God.  In  closing  his  sermon  he  said,  ''  His 
Jehovah  God  has  sent  us  rain  from  the  earth. 
Why  should  He  not  also  send  His  Son  from 
Heaven?  Namekei  (his  own  name)  stands 
up  for  Jehovah.''  That  afternoon  the  chief 
himself  and  several  of  his  people  brought 
their  idols  and  cast  them  down  at  the  feet  of 
the  missionary,  and  for  days  after  the  people 
kept  coming  with  their  idols  and  gave  them 
up,  saying,  *'  Jehovah  ! ''  "  Jehovah  I "  Those 
of  wood  were  burned  in  the  fire  and  those 
that    would    not    burn  were  buried   in   the 


154    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

ground,  and  to-day  Aniwa  is  a  Christian 
island  where  one  can  hear  the  sound  of  the 
church  bells  and  where  there  are  no  longer 
any  idols  or  any  heathen.  That  are  the  won- 
derful story  of  the  wonderful  well,  and  it 
preaches  to  us  as  it  preached  to  the  people  of 
Aniwa  long,  long  ago.  And  this  is  the  ser* 
mon  it  preaches  : 

1.  Faith  in  God  is  never  really  dis- 
appointed. All  the  treasures  of  heaven 
and  earth  are  His  and  those  who  seek 
Him  find  Him. 

2.  Faith  in  God  does  not  excuse  any 
of  us  from  hard  work.  Dr.  Paton  prayed 
long  and  earnestly  but  he  worked  and 
toiled  as  hard  as  he  trusted  and  prayed* 
It  is  an  old  and  a  true  saying  that : 

God  helps  those 
Who  help  themselves. 


XXXIX 
The  Bride's  Trousseau 

'*  Al  a  bride  adorneth  herself." — Isaiah  ixi.  lO. 

The  bride's  name  was  Yakin.  She  was  a 
wealthy  widow  in  the  island  of  Aniwa.  She 
had  thirty  lovers,  for  in  Aniwa  there  were  not 
enough  brides  for  all,  and  these  thirty  young 
men  kept  watch  over  Yakin  and  over  each 
other,  for  if  ever  one  of  them  tried  to  marry 
her  the  others  would  find  some  way  to  kill 
him.  And  so  it  looked  as  if  Yakin  would 
have  to  live  and  die  a  widow  because  she 
had  too  many  suitors  for  her  beautiful  black 
hand. 

These  thirty  young  men,  however,  did  not 
know  that  Yakin  had  a  secret  lover  who  had 
asked  her  to  marry  him,  and  for  whom  she 
had  taken  off  her  earrings  and  given  them  to 
him ;  and  he  knew  that  with  the  earrings  she 
had  given  him  her  heart.  The  name  of  her 
accepted  lover  was  Nelwang,  and  he  knew 
and  loved  John  G.  Paton,  the  wonderful  mis- 
sionary with  the  white  hair.  He  did  not 
know  what  to  do,  for  he  did  not  want  to  be 
killed ;  for  then  Yakin  would  be  a  widow 
'55 


156    Children's  Missionary  Story- Sermons 

again.  Dr.  Paton  told  him  what  to  do,  and 
that  night  Nelwang  cut  a  hole  through  the 
fence  into  Yakin's  yard,  and,  entering  her 
house,  carried  her  away  off  into  the  forest 
Of  course  she  was  glad  and  happy  to  go 
with  him,  and  there  they  hid  in  their  happi- 
ness for  two  or  three  weeks. 

Next  day  Yakin  was  gone,  and  the  hole 
in  the  fence  was  found,  and  the  thirty  young 
lovers  knew  that  some  stout  heart  had  car- 
ried off  the  black  lady ;  and  they  knew  that 
Nelwang  was  that  fortunate  one.  They  were 
angry  and  destroyed  the  houses  of  both  the 
bride  and  the  bridegroom,  and  feasted  on 
what  they  found.  Then  Dr.  Paton  came  and 
laughed  at  them,  and  said  that,  after  all  their 
kindness  to  Yakin,  she  had  been  very  un- 
grateful, and  they  were  well  rid  of  her.  "  Let 
the  two  fools  go  their  way,"  he  said  ;  "  he 
will  have  the  worst  of  the  bargain."  So  they 
went  away  satisfied. 

Three  weeks  passed  and  still  the  runaway 
couple  were  not  to  be  found.  One  day^ 
however,  Nelwang  appeared  and  asked  that 
they  might  both  become  servants  in  the  mis- 
sionary's home.  Next  day  they  came,  and 
no  one  ever  saw  a  happier  pair.  Dr.  Paton 
told  them  that  the  first  thing  they  must  do 
was  to  appear  at  church  together,  so  that  the 


The  Bride's  Trousseau  157 

people  would  know  they  were  really  married 
and  that  they  were  husband  and  wife.  It 
was  the  custom  that  before  the  church  bells 
ceased  ringing  every  one  should  be  in  his 
seat.  I  think  that  is  a  very  good  custom, 
and  it  would  help  even  in  this  country  to 
have  people  at  the  church  service  in  time. 
Well,  in  order  to  be  quite  safe,  Nelwang 
waited  until  the  bell  ceased  and  every  one 
was  seated,  and  then  in  he  marched,  as  bold 
as  a  lion,  with  his  tomahawk  in  his  hand, 
and  took  his  seat  nearest  the  missionary. 
He  knew  he  would  be  safe  there.  In  a  few 
minutes  the  bride  came ;  and  what  a  bride ! 
You  know  the  first  difference  one  sees  be- 
tween a  heathen  and  a  Christian  is  this — a 
Christian  wears  clothing  and  the  heathen 
wears  none.  Now  Yakin  had  made  up  her 
mind  to  show  the  extra  quality  of  her  Chris- 
tianity by  the  unusual  quantity  and  quality 
of  the  clothing  with  which  she  had  arrayed 
herself.  No  bride  in  all  the  world  was  ever 
dressed  so  thoughtfully.  Perhaps  I  had  bet- 
ter let  Dr.  Paton  himself  tell  you  how  she 
looked  that  day  when  she  came  up  the 
church  aisle  with  every  eye  upon  her,  and 
with  her  former  thirty  lovers  watching  her^ 
and  her  new  husband  beaming  so  proudly 
because  of  her.     "  Being  a  chiefs  widow  be^ 


158    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

fore   she  became  Nelwang's  bride,  she  had 
some  idea  of  state  occasions,  and  appeared 
dressed  in  every  article  of  European  apparel, 
mostly  portions  of  male  attire,  that  she  could 
beg   or   borrow   about   the   premises !     Her 
bridal    gown    was    a    man's    drab-coloured 
greatcoat,   put   on   above    her   native   grass 
skirts,  and  sweeping  down  to  her  heels,  but- 
toned tight.     Over  this  she  had  hung  on  a 
vest,  and  above  that  again,  most  amazing  of 
all,  she  had  superinduced  a  pair  of  men's 
trousers,  drawing  the  body  over  her  head, 
and  leaving  a  leg  dangling  gracefully  over 
each   one   of   her   shoulders   and  streaming 
down  her  back.     Fastened  to  the  one  shoul- 
der also  there  was  a  red  shirt,  and  to  the 
other  a  striped  shirt,  waving  about  her  like 
wings  as  she  sailed  along.     Around  her  head 
a  red  shirt  had  been  twisted  like  a  turban, 
and  her  notions  of  art  demanded  that  a  sleeve 
thereof  should   hang  aloft  over  each  of  her 
ears  1     She  seemed  to  be  a  moving  monster 
loaded   with  a  mass  of  rags.     The  day  was 
excessively  hot,  and  the  perspiration  poured 
over  her  face  in  streams.     She,  too,  sat  as 
near  to  me  as  she  could  get  on  the  women's 
side  of  the  church.     Nelwang  looked  at  me 
and  then  at  her,  smiling  quiedy  as  if  to  say: 
*  You  never  saw,  in  all  your  white  world,  a 


The  Bride's  Trousseau  159 

bride  so  grandly  dressed.'  I  little  thought 
what  I  was  bringing  on  myself  when  I  urged 
them  to  come  to  church.  The  sight  of  that 
poor  creature  sweltering  before  me  con- 
strained me  for  once  to  make  the  service 
very  short — perhaps  the  shortest  I  ever  con- 
ducted in  all  my  life  I  The  day  ended  in 
peace.  The  two  souls  were  extremely  happy, 
and  I  praised  God  that  what  might  have  been 
a  scene  of  bloodshed  had  closed  thus,  even 
though  it  were  in  a  kind  of  wild  gro- 
tesquerie." 

From  that  day  the  missionary  and  his  wife 
had  two  firm  friends.  Nelwang  was  like  a 
self-appointed  body-guard  for  Dr.  Paton, 
and  Yakin  was  a  never  failing  helper.  She 
learned  to  read  and  write ;  she  became  the 
leader  of  the  singing  and  a  teacher  in  the 
Sunday-school  and  was  a  general  favourite 
with  everybody. 


XL 

A  Little  Girl's  Surprise 

«« When  I  awake  I  am  still  with  Thee." 
— Psalm  cxxxix.  i8. 

Robert  Morrison  was  the  first  Protestant 
missionary  to  China.  His  home  was  in  Eng- 
land, and  there  is  a  story  that  when  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age  he  stood  up  before  the 
whole  congregation  one  Sunday  evening  and 
repeated  the  119th  Psalm  without  a  single 
mistake.  Do  you  know  the  119th  Psalm? 
Do  you  know  how  many  verses  it  has  ?  If 
you  will  look  ^t  it  you  will  find  it  has  176 
verses.  I  wonder  how  many  boys  twelve 
years  old  would  be  able  to  do  what  Robert 
Morrison  did  ? 

But  then  he  was  always  doing  such  splendid 
things  I  He  went  out  as  a  missionary  to  China 
when  people  thought  he  was  crazy.  It  is  over 
a  hundred  years  since  he  sailed  from  England. 
He  was  seventy-two  days  sailing  between 
England  and  America.  People  can  travel 
that  same  distance  to-day  in  five  or  six  days. 

He  stayed  with  friends  in  America  for  a 
few  weeks  and  then  sailed  for  China.  While 
160 


A  Little  GirPs  Surprise  l6l 

in  the  home  of  his  friends  in  Philadelphia  he 
met  a  little  girl  who  became  his  firm  friend. 
He  had  come  late  in  the  evening  and  no 
preparation  had  been  made  for  him,  and  so 
he  was  put  in  the  parent's  room,  where  this 
dear  little  girl  was  fast  asleep  in  her  crib.  I 
suppose  the  mother  thought  it  was  not  worth 
while  to  disturb  her,  for  she  would  sleep 
through  the  night.  Very  early  in  the  morn- 
ing she  awoke  and  turned  around  to  talk 
with  her  mother  as  usual  How  surprised 
she  was  to  find  a  strange  face  in  the  bed  1 
She  was  afraid  and  a  shadow  of  fear  spread 
over  her  face,  but  looking  at  the  strange  man 
she  said,  "Are  you  my  friend?"  "Yes," 
said  Mr.  Morrison,  "  I  hope  you  will  let  me 
be  your  friend."  Not  quite  satisfied,  she 
opened  her  eyes  wider  and  said,  "  Man,  do 
you  pray  to  God  ?  "  "  Oh,  yes,  dear,"  said 
her  new  friend,  "  I  pray  to  God  every  day. 
God  is  my  best  friend."  She  was  at  once 
satisfied,  and  laying  her  head  gently  on  the 
pillow  again,  she  was  soon  fast  asleep. 
When  she  awoke  he  was  dressed  and  down- 
stairs, but  she  soon  discovered  him  and  she 
became  a  great  favourite  with  him. 

This  is  the  great  man  who  went  to  China 
to  tell  the  people  about  God.  When  he  went 
people   thought   he   had  lost  his  mind.     A 


1 62     Children's  Missionary  Story-Sernnons 

merchant  said  to  him,  "  And  so,  Mr.  Morrison, 
you  really  expect  to  make  an  impression  upon 
that  heathen  country  of  China  ?  "  "  No,  sir," 
said  Mr.  Morrison  warmly,  *'  but  I  expect  God 
will."  And  God  did  a  great  and  a  wonderful 
work  through  Robert  Morrison.  If  you  go  to 
the  city  of  Canton  you  will  see  his  tomb,  and 
on  it  you  can  read  these  wonderful  words : 

Sacred  to  the  Memory  of 

Robert  Morrison^  D.  D, 

The  First  Protestant  Missionary 

to  China 

Where  after  a  service  of  twenty-seven  years  cheerfully 
spent  in  extending  the  Kingdom  of  the  Blessed  Redeemer 
during     which     period    he     completed     and    published 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Chi?iese  Language 
Founded  the  Anglo-  Chinese  College  of  Malacca 

And  for  several  years  laboured  alone  on  a  Chinese  version  of 

The  Holy  Scriptures 

Which  he  was  spared  to  see  completed  and  widely 
circulated  atfiong  those  for  whom  it  was  destined 

He  Sweetly  Slept  in  Jesus 

This  is  the  great  man  who  loved  the  little 
girl  who  one  dark  night,  long,  long  ago,  slept 
in  the  same  room  with  him. 


XLI 

The  Chip  that  Could  Talk 

"Write  thou  these  words." — Exodus  xxxiv.  27. 

Did  you  ever  stop  to  think  what  sort  of 
world  this  would  be  if  there  were  no  books 
and  no  writing  in  it  ?  Suppose  no  one  knew 
how  to  read  !  We  would  have  no  books,  no 
libraries,  no  newspapers,  no  magazines,  no 
letters  coming  and  going,  and  no  postman 
coming  to  our  doors.  Wouldn't  it  be  a 
strange  world  ? 

It  would  be  hard  to  imagine  such  a  world, 
and  yet  there  are  still  thousands  of  people 
who  can  neither  read  nor  write.  Nearly  all 
our  missionaries  have  had  to  deal  with  just 
such  people. 

When  John  Williams  went  to  the  South 
Seas,  those  to  whom  he  went  knew  nothing 
about  writing.  Part  of  the  time  he  lived  on 
the  Island  of  Raratonga.  Isn't  that  a  pretty 
name  for  an  island  ?  The  people  learned  to 
love  him  and  learned  to  love  God,  and  one 
day  they  came  to  his  home  and  asked  him 
to  take  a  seat  outside  his  house  near  the 
path.  He  wondered  what  they  wanted  and 
163 


164    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

thought  they  desired  him  to  preach  to  them 
or  to  explain  something  in  the  Bible.  When 
he  went  out  there  was  a  great  throng  of 
people,  and  each  one  had  something  in  his 
hand.  Could  you  guess  what  they  had  ? 
Well,  when  he  had  taken  his  seat  they  all 
marched  past  him  in  a  long  procession,  and 
each  one  laid  an  idol  at  his  feet.  The 
smallest  idol  was  five  feet  long.  This  was 
their  way  of  saying  to  him  that  they  would 
no  longer  worship  idols. 

How  happy  he  was  I  Next  Sunday  four 
thousand  people  came  to  church  ;  but  there 
was  no  church  large  enough  to  hold  them, 
for  they  had  just  a  little  mission  chapel.  So 
at  dawn  next  day  in  great  joy  they  started  to 
build  a  new  church,  and  in  seven  weeks  it 
was  finished  and  there  was  room  in  it  for 
three  thousand  people.  Mr.  Williams  was 
the  chief  builder,  and  less  than  five  years 
before  the  men  who  helped  him  had  never 
seen  or  handled  either  a  saw  or  an  ax. 

But  what  has  all  this  to  do  about  reading 
and  writing?  Well,  this  is  where  my  real 
story  begins.  When  this  new  church  was 
being  built,  Mr.  Williams  needed  one  of  the 
tools  which  he  had  left  at  his  home  ;  and 
picking  up  a  chip  that  lay  at  his  feet  he 
wrote  a  note  upon  it  to  Mrs.  Williams,  ask- 


The  Chip  that  Could  Talk  165 

ing  her  to  send  back  the  tool  with  the  man 
who  brought  the  message.  The  man  was 
amazed  and  refused  to  go,  saying  that  his 
wife  would  call  him  a  fool  and  scold  him  if 
he  carried  a  chip  to  her. 

"  What  shall  I  say  ?''  he  asked. 

**  You  have  nothing  to  say,"  said  the  mis- 
sionary. *'  This  chip  will  say  all  that  I  wish, 
and  she  will  understand." 

**  How  can  it?"  said  the  astonished  man. 
**  Has  the  chip  a  mouth?  Can  a  chip  talk? 
How  can  a  chip  speak?" 

He  was  persuaded,  however,  to  carry  the 
piece  of  wood  to  Mrs.  Williams,  who  read 
what  her  husband  had  written  on  it,  and 
gave  the  man  the  tool. 

*'  How  do  you  know  this  is  what  Mr.  Will- 
iams wants  ?  "  he  asked. 

**  Did  you  not  give  me  a  chip  just  now?*' 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  *'  but  I  did  not  hear  it  say 
anything." 

''  Well,"  she  said,  *'  if  you  did  not,  I  did." 

And  so  the  poor  fellow  went  away  with  the 
tool  and  the  chip,  holding  it  high  above  his 
head,  running  as  fast  as  he  could  through  the 
village,  and  shouting  as  he  ran,  "  See  the 
wisdom  of  these  English  people.  They  can 
make  chips  talk  I  They  can  make  chips 
talkl*' 


l66    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

After  a  while  Mr.  Williams  was  able  to 
teach  the  people  how  to  read  and  write  their 
own  language,  and  soon  they  had  copies  of 
the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue.  This  is  one 
of  the  best  things  our  missionaries  do  and 
to-day  the  Bible  can  be  found  translated  into 
nearly  five  hundred  different  languages,  and 
people  who  once  wondered  how  words  could 
be  written  now  hear  in  their  own  tongue  the 
wonderful  words  of  God.  Not  long  ago  I 
secured  a  part  of  the  Bible  for  a  olind  girl. 
You  know  blind  people  read  not  with  their 
eyes,  but  with  their  fingers,  and  the  books 
though  light  were  very  big  and  clumsy  and 
it  took  an  express  wagon  to  take  them  to  her. 
How  glad  we  should  be  that  we  have  eyes  to 
see  and  that  we  can  read  for  ourselves  the 
wonderful  words  of  life. 

**  Holy  Bible  !     Book  divine  ! 
Precious  treasure,  thou  art  mine; 
Mine  to  tell  me  whence  I  came. 
Mine  to  tell  me  what  1  am." 


XLII 

A  Boy  Who  Had  Three  Names 

**A  good  name." — Proverbs  xxii.  i. 

This  is  a  story  about  a  boy  who  had 
three  names.  He  was  a  Japanese  boy,  and 
his  Japanese  name  was  Neesima.  He  was 
born  in  a  prince's  palace,  but  he  was  not  a 
prince's  son.  He  was  the  son  of  one  of  the 
prince's  servants.  He  was  ten  years  old 
when  Commodore  Perry,  of  whom  many  of 
you  have  heard,  went  to  Japan  with  a  mes- 
sage from  America.  Neesima  was  greatly 
interested  in  America  and  in  the  lands  from 
which  knowledge  and  books  and  ships  and 
great  men  came.  He  learned  to  read,  and 
he  studied  and  read  so  much  that  he  almost 
became  bUnd.  He  would  read  and  study  all 
night  until  the  birds  began  to  smg  in  the 
early  morning.  His  one  great  aim  in  life 
was  to  get  an  education  and  to  become  a 
scholar. 

One  day  he  went  to  visit  a  friend,  and 
found  in  his  friend's  house  part  of  our  Bible 
written  in  Chinese.  He  read  it  with  open- 
eyed  wonder.  Think  of  reading  the  great 
1.67 


i68    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

familiar  words  of  the  Bible  for  the  first  time  \ 
We  can  scarcely  imagine  how  they  would 
sound,  for  we  have  heard  them  since  we 
were  little  children.  The  very  first  words 
of  the  Book  were  so  strange  and  wonderful  I 
*'  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens 
and  the  earth."  He  had  never  known  how 
the  world  was  made,  and  did  not  know 
about  the  great  God  who  made  us  and  all 
things.  He  put  the  little  book  down  and 
said  to  himself :  "  Who  made  me  ?  My  par- 
ents ?  No,  my  God.  Who  made  my  table  ? 
A  carpenter?  No,  my  God.  God  let  the 
trees  grow  up  in  the  earth ;  although  a  car- 
penter made  the  table  it  indeed  came  from 
the  trees ;  then  I  must  be  thankful  to  God. 
I  must  believe  Him,  and  I  must  be  upright 
before  Him."  He  began  to  pray  and  his 
first  prayer  was  very  simple.  It  was  this  r 
*'  Oh,  if  You  have  eyes,  look  upon  me ;  if 
You  have  ears,  listen  to  me."  You  see  he 
did  not  yet  know  God,  and  so  could  not 
pray  to  a  dear  Heavenly  Father.  Some 
time  again  I  will  tell  you  how  he  learned 
to  pray  like  we  do,  but  that  was  the  way 
Neesima,  the  little  Japanese  boy,  first  came 
to  know  something  about  God. 

I  said  he  had  three  names.     Neesima  was 
his   Japanese  name  and  that  of  course  was 


A  Boy  Who  Had  Three  Names    169 

his  first  name.  The  second  name  he  re- 
ceived was  a  sailor's  name.  I  will  tell  you 
how  he  got  a  sailor's  name.  When  he  was 
about  twenty  years  old  he  made  up  his  mind 
to  leave  Japan  and  to  travel  abroad  and 
learn  all  he  could.  So  one  day  he  said 
good-bye  to  his  parents,  promising  to  return 
home  within  the  year.  He  little  thought  it 
would  be  ten  long  years  before  he  would  see 
his  native  land  again.  The  ship  took  him 
to  China  and  there  he  found  a  complete  New 
Testament,  and  in  it  he  came  to  know  that 
the  same  God  who  had  made  the  world,  the 
earth,  the  sea  and  the  stars,  was  his  Heavenly 
Father.  For  a  whole  year  he  was  out  upon 
the  sea,  serving  on  shipboard,  knocked 
about  by  the  rough  sailors.  They  knew 
nothing  about  this  strange  young  Japanese, 
and  so  they  called  him  Joe,  and  that  was  his 
second  name.  The  desire  of  his  heart  was 
obtained  when  one  day  the  ship  entered 
Boston  harbour,  and  at  last  he  was  in  Amer- 
ica, the  land  of  his  dreams.  But  he  had  no 
money  and  no  one  to  care  for  him,  and  for 
ten  weeks  he  lived  on  board  the  ship  and 
thought  he  would  never  be  able  to  gain  an 
education,  or  to  live  in  the  land  where  his 
dreams  might  come  true. 

Did  I  say  no  one  cared  for  him  ?     Well, 


170    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

that  is  not  true.  God  cared  for  him  and  put 
it  into  the  heart  of  a  good  man  to  care  for 
him.  The  owner  of  the  ship  on  which  he 
had  been  sailing  was  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Hardy — Alpheus  Hardy.  He  heard  about 
Joe's  great  wish  to  go  to  school,  and  he  took 
him  to  his  own  home  and  talked  to  him.  He 
asked  him  his  name  and  the  answer  he 
received  was,  **The  sailors  call  me  Joe." 
"You  are  well  named,"  said  Mr.  Hardy, 
"  for  God  has  sent  you  to  be  the  saviour  of 
your  people."  He  was  thinking,  of  course, 
of  Joseph,  whom  we  read  about  in  the  Bible. 
So  the  Japanese  young  man  became  the 
adopted  son  of  his  new  found  friend  and  was 
called  Joseph  Neesima.  He  was  sent  to 
Phillips  Academy  and  then  to  Amherst  Col- 
lege, where  he  graduated  in  1870  with  high 
honours.  He  became  a  fine  Christian  and 
before  he  returned  to  his  own  country  he  re- 
ceived his  third  name.  The  third  name  was 
that  of  the  good  friend  who  had  been  more 
than  a  father  to  him,  and  when  he  was  bap- 
tized into  the  Christian  faith  he  was  given  the 
name  of  Joseph  Hardy  Neesima.  He  was 
the  first  and  the  greatest  of  modern  mission- 
aries to  his  own  people,  and  established 
among  them  a  great  Christian  University 
called     Doshisha.      There    he    taught    and 


A  Boy  Who  Had  Three  Names    171 

preached  and  prayed,  working  to  bring  his 
own  people  to  Jesus  Christ  to  whom  he  had 
given  his  own  heart  and  life.  After  he  died 
they  carved  his  name  on  a  rough,  unhewn 
stone,  and  the  name  they  carved  was — 
Joseph  Hardy  Neesima.  He  was  one  of 
God's  great  noblemen,  and  I  hope  some 
day  you  will  read  a  complete  story  of  his 
wonderful  life. 

Our  names  are  what  we  make  them.  Thej 
will  change  as  we  change.  They  will  be  mean 
and  unlovely  if  we  are  unkind  and  untrue,  but 
if  we  are  noble  and  good,  they  too  will  be 
noble  and  beautiful.  Think  of  the  two  names 
that  I  have  told  you  about — Joseph  Hardy 
Neesima  and  Alpheusf  Hardy.  They  are  both 
filled  full  of  love  and  good  works.  Think  of 
these  two  names — Jesus  and  Judas.  One  is 
the  sweetest  name  on  mortal  tongue  and  the 
other  is  one  of  sorrow  and  shame.  "  A  good 
name  is  better  than  great  riches." 


XLIII 
How  a  Japanese  Boy  Learned  to  Pray 

"  This  one  thing  I  do." — Phil.  iii.  13. 

How  many  of  you  have  heard  of  Robinson 
Crusoe  ?  I  suppose  every  one  of  you  know 
something  about  the  strange  man  who  lived 
on  a  lonely  island  with  his  man  Friday,  and 
some  day  those  of  you  who  have  not  read  the 
story  will  do  so,  and  I  know  you  will  enjoy 
every  page  of  it. 

Let  me  tell  you  about  a  boy  who  read  it 
and  who  was  greatly  helped  by  it.  You  re- 
member I  told  you  the  story  of  the  Japanese 
boy  with  the  three  names — Joseph  Hardy 
Neesima — and  perhaps  you  will  recall  that  I 
said  he  lived  on  a  ship  in  Boston  harbour  for 
ten  long  weary  weeks  while  the  captain  was 
visiting  his  home.  The  young  man  was 
very  unhappy  and  thought  he  would  have  to 
sail  again  on  the  ship  that  had  brought  him 
to  America  ;  and  he  wanted  so  much  to  stay 
and  go  to  school  and  become  a  scholar,  and 
then  a  teacher. 

The  captain  had  given  him  a  little  money 
and  one  day  he  went  on  shore  and  wan* 
172 


How  a  Japanese  Boy  Learned  to  Pray    1 73 

dered  into  the  city.  He  stopped  at  a 
little  second-hand  bookstore  on  Washing- 
ton Street,  and  bought  an  old  copy  of 
*'  Robinson  Crusoe."  One  wonders  why  he 
bought  just  that  book.  Perhaps  it  was  be- 
cause it  was  cheap,  or  perhaps  he  read 
enough  to  be  interested  in  it,  or  perhaps  the 
shopkeeper  told  him  something  about  it,  or 
perhaps  God's  Spirit  was  leading  him,  so  as 
to  teach  him  something.  Whatever  it  was 
that  led  him  to  buy  the  book,  buy  it  he  did, 
and  took  it  to  his  home  in  the  ship  and  read 
it  through  with  delight  and  wonder.  And 
now  you  will  be  surprised  at  what  I  am  going 
to  tell  you.  That  strange  story  taught  the 
lonely  Japanese  boy  how  to  pray.  Little  Joe, 
as  the  sailors  called  him,  was  just  as  lonely  in 
that  big  city  as  was  Robinson  Crusoe  on  his 
lonely  island,  and  if  you  will  read  the  story 
again  you  will,  I  think,  find  out  that  Robin- 
son Crusoe  was  a  good  man,  and  that  he 
knew  how  to  pray.  And  so  Joe  learned  to 
pray,  and  his  first  real  prayer  to  his  Heavenly 
Father  was  this :  *'  Please  God,  let  me  reach 
my  great  aim."  And  God  heard  his  prayer 
and  sent  Mr.  Hardy  to  help  him,  and  Joseph 
Hardy  Neesima  reached  his  great  aim,  and 
God  helped  him  build  the  great  Christian 
college  of  his  native  land.     He  called  the 


574    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

college  "  Doshisha,"  and  in  Japan  that  means 
*'  Those  of  one  aim,"  **  those  of  one  purpose," 
*'  those  of  one  endeavour."  It  was  the  an- 
swer to  his  prayer. 

Remember  then  the  value  of  these  two 
things  :  the  value  of  a  purpose  and  the  value 
of  prayer.  Let  me  give  you  a  little  prayer 
which  was  written  by  Alice  Jackson,  another 
good  and  great  missionary  : 

Father,  hear  Thy  little  children 

As  to  Thee  we  pray, 
Asking  for  Thy  loving  blessing 

On  this  day. 

Master,  make  us  pure  and  holy; 

Father,  niake  us  good  ; 
Show  us  how  to  love  each  other 

As  we  should. 

Through  the  day,  O  loving  Saviour, 

May  we  grow  like  Thee ; 
In  the  l)eHUty  all  about  us 

Thy  reflection  see. 

When  at  last  the  evening  cometh 

And  we  fall  asleep, 
In  Thy  arms  of  love,  Thy  children 

Safely  keep. 

Father,  hear  Thy  little  children, 

While  to  Thee  we  pray, 
Asking  for  Thy  loving  guidance 

All  this  day. 


XLIV 
The  Story  of  Old  Mother  Wang 

"A  prophetess     ...     of  a  great  age." 
— Matthew  ii.  36. 

Her  name  was  Wang.  We  would  say 
Mrs.  Wang.  They  called  her  ''  Old  Mother 
Wang."  She  lived  in  China,  and  became 
known  to  all  the  Christian  people  of  China  as 
one  of  the  Lord's  true  followers.  Her  hus- 
band had  failed  in  his  examinations,  and  had 
accidentally  dropped  into  a  mission  chapel, 
and  there  he  gave  his  heart  to  God  and  re- 
turned home  to  tell  the  wonderful  story  of 
the  Gospel.  He  went  about  selling  Bibles 
and  Christian  books,  and  never  wearied  tell- 
ing his  friends  about  his  new-found  happi- 
ness. 

He  was  anxious  to  have  all  his  family  be- 
come Christians  and  had  family  prayer  in 
his  home.  He  read  the  Bible  and  also  some 
of  the  hymns,  for  he  could  not  sing,  and  then 
prayed  for  himself  and  them.  Mrs.  Wang 
could  not  read,  but  became  much  interested 
in  the  new  Gospel,  and  the  first  thing  she  did 
was  to  throw  away  her  pipe  ;  for,  like  most  of 


1^6    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

the  women  of  China,  she  loved  to  smoke. 
Her  husband  was  not  very  strong,  and 
after  three  years  he  died.  In  those  short 
three  years  he  had  so  laboured  and  worked 
that  he  had  built  a  little  church,  but  when  he 
died  there  was  no  one  to  carry  on  the  work. 

After  the  funeral  Mrs.  Wang  said  to  her 
son,  "  I  am  going  to  Peking  to  study  in  the 
Woman  5)  Training  School,  and  then  come 
back  and  take  up  your  father's  work."  So 
he  took  her  to  the  capital  city  of  China  and 
she  started  to  study.  I  suppose  she  was  then 
fifty  years  of  age  and  had  never  learned  to 
read.  She  was  not  very  bright  and  did  not 
learn  easily,  but  she  worked  so  hard  and  was 
so  anxious  to  get  on  that  in  two  years  she 
could  read  the  Gospels. 

When  she  was  able  to  do  that  she  sent 
for  her  son  and  told  him  she  wished  to  go 
home.  Before  they  had  gone  half  a  day's 
journey  the  Chinese  cart  in  which  she  was 
riding  upset,  and  she  was  so  frightened  that 
she  could  not  be  persuaded  to  enter  it  again. 
The  son  secured  a  common  wheelbarrow, 
and  in  it  put  his  mother  and  all  their 
belongings,  their  bedding  and  clothing,  and 
then  wheeled  her  home.  How  far  do  you 
think  he  wheeled  her?  I  am  afraid  you 
would    never    guess.     That    Chinese    boy 


The  Story  of  Old  Mother  Wang    177 

wheeled  his  mother  and  all  her  belongings 
four  hundred  miles.  Think  of  that!  Four 
hundred  miles  over  the  Chinese  roads,  up 
and  down  hill,  day  in  and  day  out,  sleeping 
on  the  ground  at  night.  It  would  take  an 
automobile,  travelling  twenty  miles  an  hour,  a 
whole  day  and  a  whole  night  to  travel  that 
distance.  It  was  because  the  boy  loved  his 
mother,  and  both  the  boy  and  his  mother 
loved  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  they  were  willing 
to  take  that  long,  hard  journey  back  to  their 
old  home. 

When  she  reached  her  home  she  took  up 
her  husband's  work,  and  became  the  pastor 
of  the  little  church.  She  went  about  teach* 
ing  and  preaching  through  all  the  country, 
selling  books  and  Bibles  in  towns  and  vil- 
lages. For  thirty  years  she  was  the  pastor 
and  the  preacher  in  that  part  of  Shantung 
Province,  and  when  she  was  eighty  years  old 
she  travelled  back  over  those  same  long  four 
hundred  miles  to  try  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  empress.  She  was  disap- 
pointed, however,  and  travelled  home  with- 
out being  able  to  preach  to  the  queen. 

No  one  in  all  China  was  better  loved,  and 
no  one  did  more  to  tell  the  beautiful  story  of 
Jesus  to  her  people,  than  "  Old  Mother 
Wang." 


XLV 
The  Child  Leader 

*«  A  little  child  shall  lead  them." — Isaiah  xi.  6. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  books  in  my 
library  is  called  "  Thinking  Black."  It  was 
given  to  me  by  a  group  of  Chicago  ministers 
as  a  pledge  that  they  loved  me  and  that  I 
loved  them.  I  wonder  if  you  could  guess 
what  the  book  is  about?  It  might  mean 
**  Thinking  Black  Thoughts,"  but  if  that  were 
so  my  friends  would  not  have  given  it  to  me, 
and  I  would  not  have  said  it  was  a  beautiful 
book.  It  might  mean  "  Thinking  About 
Black  Things,"  but  if  that  were  so,  we 
would  have  hard  work  to  guess  what  the 
black  things  could  be.  It  might  mean 
**  Thinking  About  Black  People,"  and  that 
is  just  what  it  does  mean,  and  the  black 
people  of  whom  it  tells  live  far  away  in  the 
very  darkest  place  of  darkest  Africa. 

The  book  is  written  by  a  great  missionary 
whose  name  is  Dan  Crawford.  He  went  to 
Africa  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  for 
twenty-two  years  lived  in  that  far-away, 
lonely  land  without  seeing  his  friends  or 
178 


The  Child  Leader  179 

going  back  to  his  home  even  once.  After 
twenty-two  years  he  came  back  home  and 
brought  this  beautiful  book  with  him,  and 
now  he  has  gone  back,  as  he  says,  to  live 
and  die  among  his  black  people  who  are  his 
friends  and  whom  he  loves. 

Dan  Crawford  tells  us  that  we  hardly 
understand  how  big  and  great  Africa  is.  To 
many  of  us  it  is  only  a  name.  He  has  drawn 
for  his  book  an  outline  map  of  Africa,  and 
inside  of  it  he  placed  all  Europe,  including 
Russia  and  Germany  and  France  and  Great 
Britain  and  all  the  countries  of  that  great 
Continent,  and  still  he  had  room  for  all  of 
India  and  all  of  China  and  had  still  enough 
space  left  in  the  map  for  another  country  as 
large  as  India.  Well,  Dan  Crawford  lived 
and  worked  in  the  very  centre  of  that  great 
land,  among  the  tall,  coarse  grass,  near  the 
very  place  where  the  great  missionary,  David 
Livingstone,  died. 

And  he  tells  us  that  in  a  sense  it  was  a  little 
child  that  led  him  from  the  coast,  through  the 
long,  tall  grass,  a  thousand  weary  miles  into 
the  far  interior.  Let  me  tell  you  what  he 
means.  There  were  no  great  roads,  no  rail- 
ways, nor  street  cars,  nor  automobiles  for 
Dan  Crawford  to  travel  by,  so  he  had  to 
walk  or  be  carried  or  ride  in  an  ox  cart  over 


l8o    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

a  narrow  winding  path,  which  often  seemed 
to  lose  itself  in  the  great,  tali  grass  that  grew 
higher  than  his  head. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  heavy  dew  was 
upon  the  fields  and  hung  heavy  on  the  grass, 
and  the  people  who  travelled  were  likely  to  be 
drenched  with  it  as  they  travelled  through.  To 
avoid  this  wetting  the  black  people  take  a  little 
naked  black  boy  and  make  him  go  ahead,  to 
shake  down  upon  his  own  little,  naked,  shiv- 
ering black  body  the  cold  morning  dew. 
The  black  people  call  these  little  dew-dryers 
"human  brooms.'^  They  are  little  "no- 
bodies *'  who  squeeze  themselves  through 
the  hidden  path  so  that  others  may  follow 
without  harm.  These  little  dew-dryers  are 
constantly  in  danger  of  some  hungry  old 
hyena  or  leopard  lurking  in  the  grass,  wait- 
ing to  carry  off  one  of  the  litde  lads  for  his 
breakfast.  Of  course  the  people  are  proud 
of  these  brave  boys,  for  they  think  they  will 
grow  up  to  become  brave  warriors. 

It  was  to  help  just  such  little  boys  that 
Dan  Crawford  went  to  Africa.  He  went  to 
tell  the  people  of  that  dark  land  that  God 
loved  little  boys  and  girls,  and  that  He 
wanted  every  one  to  love  them  and  be  kind 
and  good  to  them.  It  is  only  where  people 
love  Jesus  that  little  children  are  well  cared 


The  Child  Leader  l8l 

lor  and  are  happy.  Think  how  differently 
we  expect  our  little  boys  and  girls  to  lead 
us.  We  expect  them  to  lead  us  in  sweetness 
and  gentleness,  in  winsome  ways  and  loving 
helpfulness,  in  trust  and  faith  and  prayer. 
This  is  why  the  child-heart  is  first  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

I  wonder  if  you  ever  saw  a  picture  of  a 
little  child — I  think  it  is  the  Christ-child  who 
stands  with  a  palm  branch  in  his  hand  and  a 
great  throng  of  animals,  some  wild,  some 
tame  following  after  him.  The  lamb  is  there 
and  the  lion  is  there,  and  because  of  the  little 
child  they  are  at  peace.  Where  the  spirit 
of  the  Christ-child  is,  the  lion  and  the  lamb 
lie  down  together.  Thousands  of  little  chil- 
dren still  say  as  their  childhood  prayer : 

**  Gentle  Jesus  meek  and  mild, 
Look  upon  a  little  child, 
Pity  my  simplicity, 
Suffer  me  to  come  to  Thee." 

It  is  a  good  prayer  for  little  people,  and  I 
know  none  better  for  all  big  people. 


XLVI 

A  Great  Queen's  Birthday 

*'  On  his  birthday." — Mark  vi.  23. 

The  older  one  is,  the  prouder  she  becomes 
That  is  not  always  the  rule  in  America,  but 
it  is  in  China.  Old  age  in  China  is  a  crown 
of  glory,  and  the  birthdays  of  old  people  are 
not  forgotten,  but  remembered  and  observed 
with  great  joy  and  rejoicing.  This  is  a  story 
of  a  birthday  present.  The  birthday  was  the 
sixtieth  birthday  of  a  queen.  She  was  the 
queen  of  China  and  her  name — The  Empress 
Dowager 

There  are  two  birthdays  spoken  of  in  the 
Bible.  One  is  in  the  Old  Testament  and  one 
is  in  the  New  Testament.  Both  are  birth- 
days of  two  bad  kings.  I  was  nearly  telling 
you  their  names,  but  I  think  I  will  let  you 
find  out  for  yourself.  If  you  can't  find  out 
Jihen  I'll  help  you.  This  story  is  not  about  a 
king,  but  about  a  queen,  and  though  she,  too, 
was  a  great  ruler,  yet  I  fear  she  was  not  a 
fery  good  queen. 

It  was  in  the  year  1894  and  the  Christian 
women  of  America  and  Europe  and  China 
182 


A  Great  Queen's  Birthday  183 

decided  they  would  like  to  give  the  empress 
a  present.  It  was  not  because  they  greatly 
loved  her,  but  because  she  was  the  queen, 
and  she  could  be  a  help  or  a  hindrance  to  the 
great  work  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  China. 
Everybody  was  giving  the  empress  a  present 
and  the  whole  country  was  preparing  to 
celebrate  her  birthday.  A  great  stone  road 
had  been  built  from  the  city  of  Peking  to  her 
summer  home,  fifteen  miles  away.  Every 
one  wished  to  do  something,  and  the  Chris- 
tian women  who  were  interested  in  China 
thought  they,  too,  should  give  the  empress  a 
gift.  But  what  could  they  give?  Silver  and 
gold  and  jewels  and  everything  valuable  that 
China  could  obtain  were  being  given,  and 
these  Christian  women  wanted  to  give  some- 
thing no  one  else  would  give,  and  something 
that  might  help  her  and  do  her  good.  After 
much  thought  they  decided  to  give  her  a 
book,  and  of  course  they  wanted  to  give  her 
the  best  book  they  could  find,  and  of  course 
the  best  book  they  could  find  was  the  Bible. 
They,  therefore,  planned  to  present  to  her  on 
her  birthday  a  beautiful  copy  of  the  New 
Testament.  So  they  sent  to  England  for  a 
New  Testament.  It  took  a  long  time  to  get 
it,  for  it  had  to  be  made  to  order.  New  type 
was  made  from  which  to  print  it.     The  finest 


184    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

India  paper  was  secured.  It  was  bound  not 
in  leather,  but  in  the  purest  of  pure  silver. 
It  was  embossed  in  bamboo,  so  as  to  make 
it  look  like  something  Chinese.  When  it 
was  printed  and  bound  it  was  enclosed  in  a 
solid  silver  box,  and  as  the  Chinese  people 
love  display  and  ceremony  they  put  it  in  a 
red  plush  box,  for  red  is  the  colour  of  happi- 
ness in  China,  and  so  the  silver  box  was 
hidden  in  the  red  plush  box,  and  the  red 
plush  box  was  enclosed  in  a  finely  carved 
teakwood  box,  and  the  teakwood  box  was 
placed  inside  an  ordinary  wooden  box,  and 
sent  off  to  China,  where  it  was  presented  to 
the  queen  by  the  American  and  British  min- 
isters. The  queen  was  very  much  interested, 
and  all  the  boxes  had  to  be  opened  before 
her  very  eyes.  First  the  plain  American  pine 
box  was  opened,  and  then  the  beautiful  teak- 
wood box,  carved  like  the  frame  of  her  own 
portrait,  and  then  the  red  plush  box,  which 
made  her  blush,  for  red  is  the  bride's  colour. 
In  China  the  bride's  dress  is  red,  her  chair  is 
red  and  her  presents  aie  all  done  up  in  red, 
and  tied  with  red  ribbon.  Then  came  the 
silver  box,  and  inside  that  the  beautiful  book 
which  contained 

<*  The  beautiful  words;  wonderful  words; 
Wonderful  words  of  life.** 


A  Great  Queen^s  Birthday  185 

The  queen  told  what  she  thought  of  the 
gift  and  thanked  the  Christian  women  for 
their  kind  thought  of  her,  but  she  never  told 
what  she  thought  of  the  wonderful  message 
which  was  contained  in  the  beautiful  book. 
We  know,  however,  that  it  was  after  she  had 
received  this  gift  of  the  Bible  that  great  things 
began  to  happen  in  China:  the  cruel  opium 
traffic  was  halted  and  the  people  were  given 
a  chance  to  govern  themselves ;  and  we 
know  that  the  next  day  her  young  son,  the 
Emperor  Kuang  Hsu,  sent  to  the  American 
Bible  Society  for  a  complete  Bible  so  that  he 
could  read  it  for  himself,  and  to-day  China  is 
like  a  new  country,  and  thousands  and  thou- 
sands of  people  are  reading  and  learning  to 
love  the  Bible  and  its  wonderful  Gospel  of 
the  love  of  God.  It  was  worth  while,  wasn't 
it,  to  send  the  queen  a  present  on  her  birth- 
day ? 


XLVII 

A  Boy  Who  Answered  God's  Call 

"  Speak,  for  Thy  servant  heareth." — i  Samuel  iii.  lo. 

I  AM  going  to  tell  you  about  a  great  man 
who  had  two  names.  His  real  name  was 
James — James  Chalmers.  He  was  a  Scotch- 
man, and  I  suppose  his  Scotch  mother  called 
him  Jamie.  I  know  a  fine  American  boy 
whose  name  is  James  and  his  mother  calls 
him  Jamie  ;  but  then  James  is  also  his  father's 
name,  and  I  expect  she  calls  him  Jamie, 
so  as  not  to  get  her  husband's  and  her  dear 
little  son's  name  mixed.  I  hope  little  Jamie 
will  become  as  good  a  man  as  his  father. 

Well,  James  Chalmers  was  a  little  Scotch 
boy,  and  lived  under  the  shadow  of  an  old 
castle  by  the  name  of  Inveraray.  His  other 
name  was  Tamate.  Tamate  was  his  mis- 
sionary name,  for  James  Chalmers  was  a 
missionary  among  the  cannibals  of  the  South 
Sea  Islands  for  thirty-five  years,  and  lost  his 
life  there  on  a  wild  island,  where  he  was 
killed  by  the  cannibals  he  tried  to  help.  You 
know  a  cannibal  is  a  man  who  kills  and  eats 
other  men,  but  we  can  be  glad  there  are  none 
i86 


A  Boy  Who  Answered  God's  Call    187 

of  them  living  within  thousands  of  miles  of 
us.  It  was  on  April  8,  1901,  that  James 
Chalmers  lost  his  life,  so  you  see  it  was  not 
so  very  long  ago  that  such  an  awful  thing 
took  place. 

Perhaps  you  don't  know  much  about  this 
great  man.  It  may  be  you  have  never  heard 
either  of  his  names.  You  will,  however,  take 
my  word  for  it  that  he  was  a  great  man,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  missionaries  that  ever 
lived.  If  you  don't  know  much  about  James 
Chalmers,  I'll  tell  you  some  one  whose  name 
you  do  know.  You  know  about  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson,  who  said  : 

"  The  world  is  so  full  of  a  number  of  things 
I'm  sure  we  should  all  be  as  happy  as  kings." 

Now  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  knew  and 
loved  James  Chalmers,  for  they  lived  not 
very  far  from  each  other,  away  off  in  the 
South  Seas,  and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson 
said  that  James  Chalmers  was  the  greatest 
man  he  had  met  in  all  his  journeys  in  and 
out  among  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
R.  L.  S.  (you  know  whose  initials  those  are) 
said  he  wished  he  had  had  James  Chalmers 
for  a  neighbour  when  he  was  a  little  boy, 
and  said  that  life  would  have  been  so  differ- 
ent if  he  had  known  him  when  they  were 


l88    Children''s  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

boys  in  Scotland.  Writing  to  his  mother  he 
said,  "  I  shall  meet  Tamate  once  more  before 
he  disappears  up  the  Fly  River.  He  is  a 
man  nobody  can  see  and  not  love.  Did  I 
tell  you  that  I  took  a  chair  at  his  missionary 
lecture  by  his  own  choice  ?  I  thought  you 
would  like  that ;  and  I  was  proud  to  be  at 
his  side  even  for  so  long.  He  has  plenty 
faults  like  the  rest  of  us ;  but  he's  as  big  as  a 
church."  Some  day  perhaps  you  can  read 
more  about  this  great  good  man  and  his 
work  in  New  Guinea. 

I  am  interested  just  now  in  telling  you 
how  James  Chalmers  came  to  be  a  mission- 
ary. He  was  not  a  rich  boy  and  he  was  not 
a  very  poor  boy.  He  lived,  I  suppose,  like 
most  boys,  going  to  school  and  working  a 
little  in  the  holidays  and  attending  Sunday- 
school  ;  and  because  he  was  a  litde  wild,  he 
hid  away  out  of  sight  whenever  the  minister 
was  seen.  One  day  at  Sunday-school  some- 
thing happened.  What  do  you  think  it  was  ? 
Well,  long  years  afterwards  when  he  became 
famous,  and  people  came  in  crowds  to  hear 
his  story,  he  told  what  it  was  that  happened 
that  day  in  Sunday-school.  Can  you  think 
what  it  would  be? 

Perhaps  I  had  better  let  him  tell  it  him- 
self in  his  own  way.     Listen,  now,  and  he 


A  Boy  Who  Answered  God's  Call    189 

will  tell  you  what  happened :  "  I  remember 
it  well.  Our  Sunday-school  class  had  been 
held  in  the  vestry  as  usual.  (Ask  your 
father  what  a  vestry  is.)  The  lesson  was 
finished,  and  we  had  marched  back  into 
the  chapel  to  sing,  answer  questions,  and  to 
listen  to  a  short  address.  I  was  sitting  at 
the  head  of  the  seat,  and  can  even  now  see 
Mr.  Meikle  taking  from  his  breast  pocket  a 
copy  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Record,  and 
hear  him  say  that  he  was  going  to  read  an 
interesting  letter  to  us  from  a  missionary  in 
Fiji.  The  letter  was  read.  It  spoke  of  can- 
nibalism, and  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  reading,  looking  over 
his  spectacles,  and  with  wet  eyes,  he  said,  *  I 
wonder  if  there  is  a  boy  here  this  afternoon 
who  will  yet  become  a  missionary  and  by 
and  by  bring  the  Gospel  to  cannibals  ? '  And 
the  response  of  my  heart  was,  *Yes,  God 
helping  me,  I  will.'  So  impressed  was  I  that 
I  spoke  to  no  one,  but  went  right  away 
towards  home.  The  impression  became 
greater  the  further  I  went,  until  I  got  to  the 
bridge  over  the  Aray  above  the  mill  and 
near  to  the  Black  Bull.  There  I  went  over 
the  wall  attached  to  the  bridge,  and  kneeling 
down  prayed  God  to  accept  of  me,  and  to 
make  me  a  missionary  to  the  heathen/* 


igo    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Well,  now  you  know  what  happened  that 
day  in  Sunday-school,  and  that  was  the 
greatest  day  in  the  life  of  James  Chalmers. 
He  was  just  a  lad,  but  right  there  he  heard 
God's  voice  calling  him,  and  he  rose  up  and 
followed  all  the  rest  of  his  days.  It  is  always 
a  great  day  when  we  hear  God  call  us  to  our 
work  in  the  world,  and  He  usually  calls  us 
when  we  are  boys  and  girls,  just  as  He  called 
James  Chalmers  and  as  He  called  Samuel. 

On  the  first  page  of  Rear-Admiral  Philip's 
Bible  these  words  were  written  : 

*'  Put  any  burden  on  me,  only  sustain  me, 
Send  me  anywhere,  only  go  with  me. 
Sever  any  tie  but  this  tie  that  binds  me, 
To  Thy  service  and  Thy  heart." 

Admiral  Philip  was  a  great  soldier-sailor, 
and  he  too  answered  God's  call.     Can  you 

say, 

"  Send  me  anywhere^ 
Only  go  with  me^^  f 


XLVIII 
A  Mother's  Prayer  and  Its  Answer 

"I  have  prayed  for  you." — Luke  xxii.  32. 

I  THINK  the  first  time  I  ever  heard  a  great 
missionary  speak  was  when  I  heard  Hudson 
Taylor.  It  was  in  the  town  of  Guelph  in 
Ontario,  and  I  was  perhaps  about  thirteen  or 
fourteen  years  old.  Of  course  I  had  often 
before  heard  missionaries  speak,  but  they 
were  not  really  great,  and  they  did  not 
interest  me  enough  to  remember  them.  But 
I  remember  Hudson  Taylor.  I  do  not  re- 
member what  he  said  but  I  remember  him. 
He  was  home  from  his  mission  field  in  China 
and  was  on  a  tour  through  Canada  and  the 
United  States.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  of  modern  missionaries  and  what 
he  was  is  more  interesting  even  than  what 
he  did.     He  was  a  great  Christian. 

I  would  like  to  tell  you  how  he  became  a 
Christian. 

Like  most  boys  who  become  great  men, 
he  had  a  good  mother.  Hudson  was  his 
mother's  name.  His  mother  had  prayed  for 
him  and  had  asked   God  to  make  him  a 


192    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

minister  of  the  Gospel.  But  when  he  was 
fifteen  he  went  to  work  in  a  bank,  and  there 
he  grew  careless  about  his  habits  and  forgot 
to  pray  and  criticized  people  who  called 
themselves  Christians.  It  was  a  great  grief 
to  his  mother  and  to  his  sister  Amelia,  who 
was  two  years  younger  than  he.  Amelia  was 
a  good  girl  and  made  up  her  mind  that  she, 
too,  would  pray  for  her  brother  until  he  became 
changed  and  they  were  all  happy  together. 

One  day  his  mother  went  away  on  a  visit 
to  a  friend,  some  seventy  or  eighty  miles 
distant.  Having  nothing  special  to  do  one 
afternoon,  she  went  to  her  room,  and  locking 
the  door  began  to  pray  for  her  boy  who  was 
wandering  away  from  her  love  and  from 
God's  love.  She  did  not  know  what  her  son 
was  doing  at  the  time.  It  was  a  holiday  and 
she  did  not  know  where  he  was.  But  he  was 
at  home,  and  being  alone  went  to  his  father's 
library  and  began  to  search  for  something  to 
read.  He  found  a  little  tract  which  was 
called  "It  is  Finished."  He  knew  it  was 
what  would  be  called  a  Sunday-school  story, 
and  so  he  said  he  would  read  the  story  part 
and  let  the  sermon  part  go.  He  sat  down 
to  read  and  became  so  interested  in  it  that 
he  read  both  the  story  and  the  sermon.  I 
suppose  it  must  have  been  a  very  interesting 


A  Mother's  Prayer  and  Its  Answer    193 

story-sermon.  He  did  not  know  that  on  that 
very  afternoon  his  mother  was  praying  for 
him.  She  prayed  on  and  on  for  hours,  and 
then  something  told  her  that  she  had  prayed 
enough,  and  she  began  to  sing,  her  heart  was 
so  happy,  and  she  was  sure  God  had  an- 
swered her  prayer.  And  her  prayer  was 
answered,  for  Hudson  Taylor  learned  from 
the  little  tract  that  there  was  nothing  for  him 
to  do  but  to  love  and  trust  the  dear  Lord 
Jesus  with  all  his  heart.  So  there  among  the 
books  in  the  library  he  began  to  sing  a  hymn 
I  used  to  hear  my  own  dear  father  sing  when 
I  was  a  very  little  boy.  I  feel  sure  you  never 
heard  it,  but  they  used  to  sing  it  to  a  very 
pretty  tune  when  your  father  and  mother 
were  little  children.     This  is  it : 

*'  Nothing  either  great  or  small, 
Nothing,  sinner,  no ! 
Jesus  died  and  did  it  all. 
Long,  long  ago. 

**  *It  is  finished  * ;  yes,  indeed; 

Finished  every  jot; 
Sinner,  this  is  all  you  need; 
Tell  me,  is  it  not  ? 

**  When  He,  from  His  lofty  throne. 
Stooped  to  do  and  die, 
Everything  was  fully  done : 
Listen  to  His  cry  : 


194    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

«  Weary,  working,  burdened  one, 
Wherefore  toil  you  so  ? 
Cease  your  doing ;  all  was  done 
Long,  long  ago. 

"  Cast  your  deadly  *  doing  '  down  — 
Down  at  Jesus'  feet ; 
Stand  in  Him,  in  Him  alone, 
Gloriously  complete." 

In  two  weeks  Mrs.  Taylor  returned.  She 
could  hardly  wait  to  see  how  her  prayer  was 
answered,  and  Hudson  could  hardly  wait 
to  tell  her.  He  had  told  Amelia,  but  had 
pledged  her  to  keep  it  secret  that  he  himself 
might  tell  it  to  his  mother  when  she  came 
home.  He  was  the  first  to  meet  her  at  the 
door,  but  before  he  could  say  a  word  her 
loving  arms  were  around  his  neck,  and  as 
she  kissed  him  she  said :  "  I  know,  my  dear 
boy ;  I  have  been  rejoicing  in  the  glad  news 
you  have  to  tell." 

He  was  disappointed  and  said  in  surprise : 

"  Why !  Has  Amelia  broken  her  promise? 
She  promised  she  would  tell  no  one.'* 

Then  his  mother  told  him  that  she  had  not 
heard  it  from  Amelia  or  from  any  one  else, 
but  that  God  had  whispered  it  to  her  heart 
when  she  had  prayed  for  him  one  afternoon 
two  weeks  ago. 

How  happy  they  were  I 


A  Mother's  Prayer  and  Its  Answer    195 

From  that  day  Hudson  Taylor  began  to 
prepare  himself  to  be  a  messenger  of  the 
Gospel. 

Remember  that  prayer  is  power.  God 
asks  us  to  pray  and  promises  to  fulfill  our 
heart's  desire  when  we  ask  those  things  that 
are  pleasing  to  Him.  Perhaps  you  can 
learn  to  say  these  words : 

"  More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of." 


XLIX 

A  Story  of  Half  a  Crown 

"  This  is  the  victory." — i  John  v.  4, 

Perhaps  you  will  remember  what  I  told 
you  about  Hudson  Taylor  being  such  a  fine 
Christian  as  well  as  being  a  wonderful  mis- 
sionary. He  was  a  man  of  faith.  He  asked 
God  for  money  and  God  gave  him  money. 
He  asked  for  missionaries  and  God  gave  him 
the  men  and  the  women.  One  year  he  asked 
for  one  hundred  missionaries  and  that  year 
the  hundred  sailed  for  China.  He  was  the 
founder  of  what  is  known  as  the  China  Inland 
Mission.  When  he  went  to  China  he  wanted 
to  work  where  no  one  else  was  working,  and 
in  the  heart  of  China  he  began  what  is  to- 
day one  of  the  most  wonderful  missions  in 
the  world. 

Early  in  his  Christian  life  he  learned  to  trust 
God  for  everything. 

This  is  how  he  learned  his  lesson  : 

He  was  working  at  Hull  and  at  the  end  of 
the  week  his  employer  overlooked  giving 
him  his  wages.  All  he  had  was  half  a  crown. 
196 


A  Story  of  Haifa  Crown  197 

That  is  a  piece  of  English  money  worth  sixty 
cents,  a  little  larger  than  one  of  our  fifty  cent 
pieces.  When  Sunday  came  he  was  very 
happy  notwithstanding  his  lack  of  money, 
went  to  church,  and  in  the  afternoon  visited 
among  the  poor. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  he  went 
to  the  last  house  to  make  his  last  visit. 

A  poor  woman  was  very  sick  and  appar 
ently  dying,  and  her  husband  had  asked  him 
to  come  and  pray  with  her.  He  had  gone 
for  the  priest,  for  he  was  an  Irish  Catholic, 
but  the  priest  would  not  go  without  a  fee  of 
eighteen  pence,  and  the  man  had  no  money 
and  his  family  no  food. 

So  Hudson  Taylor  went. 

He  soon  found,  however,  that  the  poor 
family  needed  food  as  much  as  they  needed 
prayer. 

He  had  only  one  piece  of  money  and  noth- 
ing else,  and  he,  too,  had  had  no  supper. 

He  tried  to  pray  but  no  sooner  did  he  say 
*'  Our  Father  "  than  his  conscience  said,  "  Do 
you  dare  to  call  God  Father  while  these  poor 
people  are  starving  and  you  have  that  half 
crown  in  your  pocket?** 

He  rose  from  his  knees,  thinking  if  he  had 
only  had  that  half  crown  in  change  he  would 
gladly  have  given  them  half  of  it. 


198    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

There  was  a  little  baby  just  two  or  three 
days  old,  and  it  was  moaning,  too  weak  al- 
most to  cry. 

The  poor  father  turned  to  the  young  man 
who  had  prayed  beside  the  wretched  bed  and 
said,  "  If  you  can  help  us,  for  God's  sake  do.'* 

A  voice  within  was  saying,  "  Give,"  ''  Give," 
"  Give  to  him  that  asketh  thee,"  and  putting 
his  hand  into  his  pocket  he  drew  out  the  half 
crown,  all  the  money  he  had,  and  put  it  in  the 
poor  man's  hand. 

That  half  crown  was  like  a  fortune. 

The  poor  woman's  life  was  saved  and  the 
little  baby  fed. 

And  how  happy  he  was  ! 

He  had  only  a  bowl  of  gruel  for  his  sup- 
per, but  he  went  to  his  rest  singing. 

There  was  only  a  plate  of  porridge  for 
breakfast,  but  before  he  ate,  the  postman 
came  with  a  letter,  and  in  it  there  were  two 
gold  pieces  from  some  unknown  friend. 

Then  he  knew  that  whatever  happened  he 
could  trust  his  Heavenly  Father. 

And  he  did.  The  motto  of  his  wonderful 
life — and  there  has  seldom  been  a  more 
wonderful  life — was  "  To  move  man,  through 
God,  by  prayer  alone."  And  he  did.  Why 
may  not  we? 


Nyi,  the  Cotton  Merchant 

**  Why  tarriest  thou  ? " — Acts  xxii.  i6. 

Mr.  Nyi  was  a  successful  business  man  in 
the  Chinese  city  of  Ning-po.  One  day  he 
was  passing  along  the  street  of  his  city  when 
he  heard  a  big  bell  ringing,  and  following  the 
people  he  came  to  what  the  people  of  China 
call  a  "  Jesus  Hall.''  It  was  a  little  mission 
chapel  where  the  missionary  was  preaching 
about  Jesus,  the  Saviour. 

A  young  man  was  preaching.  He  was 
dressed  like  a  Chinese  student,  and  he  was 
preaching  from  the  familiar  verses  in  the  third 
chapter  of  John's  Gospel : 

**  As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the 
wilderness,  even  so  must  the  So?i  of  Man  be 
lifted  up  :  That  whosoever  believeth  in  Him 
should  not  perish^  but  have  everlasting  life, 

"  For  God  sent  not  His  Son  into  the  world 
to  condemn  the  world ;  but  that  the  world 
through  Him  might  be  saved P 

It  was  the  first  time  that  Nyi   had   ever 

heard  the  Gospel.     He   had   often   thought 

about  God  and  about  his  sins,  and  the  more 

he  thought  the  less  he  liked  God,  for  he  felt 

199 


200    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

God  must  be  angry  with  him  on  account  of 
his  sins.  But  this  story  the  young  preacher 
was  telling  was  indeed  good  news,  and  Nyi 
listened  with  both  eyes  and  ears  open.  He 
was  not  a  bad  man,  but  he  was  unable  to 
find  peace  in  his  Chinese  religion  ;  and  he  had 
founded  a  new  religion  that  had  new  ways 
in  the  hope  that  he  might  find  God  and  rest 
for  his  soul.  For  the  first  time  Nyi  heard 
about  Jesus  and  the  love  of  God,  of  His 
mercy  and  goodness,  and  his  heart  was  glad. 
When  the  minister  ceased  speaking  Nyi  arose 
and  began  to  talk,  for  he,  too,  knew  how  to 
talk  to  people,  and  this  is  what  he  said : 

**  I  have  long  sought  the  truth,  as  my 
father  before  me,  but  without  finding  it.  I 
have  travelled  far  and  near,  but  have  never 
searched  it  out.  In  Confucianism,  Buddhism, 
Taoism  I  have  found  no  rest ;  but  I  do  find 
rest  in  what  we  have  heard  to-night.  Hence- 
forward I  am  a  believer  in  Jesus." 

Every  one  present  knew  Nyi,  and  his  little 
sermon  had  more  effect  than  the  minister's 
longer  one. 

When  the  people  were  gone,  Nyi  remained 
to  talk  with  the  young  minister.  His  name 
was  Hudson  Taylor.  I  hope  you  know  his 
name  and  know  something  about  him.  They 
talked  long  into  the  night,  and  afterwards 


Nyi,  the  Cotton  Merchant  201 

Nyi,  the  cotton  merchant,  became  a  great 
helper  to  the  missionaries  and  often  spoke  at 
the  church  services.  He  spoke  before  his 
friends,  and  told  them  why  he  had  become  a 
Christian,  and  asked  them  to  follow  him  into 
the  Christian  faith. 

And  this  is  how  he  felt 

One  day  he  was  talking  with  Dr.  Taylor 
about  the  great  change  that  had  come  into 
his  life,  when  suddenly,  looking  up  into  the 
face  of  the  missionary,  he  said  : 

**  How  long  have  you  had  the  Glad  Tidings 
in  England  ?  " 

The  missionary  was  ashamed  to  tell  him, 
so  he  tried  to  pass  it  over  by  saying  that  it 
was  several  hundred  years. 

Nyi  was  thunder-struck  and  cried  out  in 
his  surprise : 

"  What  I  Several  hundred  years !  Is  it 
possible  that  you  have  known  about  Jesus 
so  long  and  only  now  have  come  to  tell  us? 
Why,  sir,  my  father  sought  the  truth  for 
more  than  twenty  years,  and  died  without 
finding  it." 

Then  with  a  sigh  in  his  voice  that  spoke 
the  pain  of  his  heart  he  added : 

"  Oh,  why  did  you  not  come  sooner  ?  " 

Why  ?  Can  any  one  answer  Nyi's  ques- 
tion? 


LI 

In  a  Chinese  Guest  Hall 

**As  many  as  receive  Him." — ^John  i.  12. 

Hudson  Taylor,  the  founder  of  the 
Chinese  Inland  Mission,  had  a  helper  whose 
name  was  Neng-Kuei.  He  was  not  a  min- 
ister. He  was  a  basket  maker,  but  few  min- 
isters could  talk  or  preach  better  than  he. 
When  he  became  a  Christian  he  refused  to 
work  on  Sunday,  and  so  lost  his  position ; 
and  refusing  also  to  make  baskets  to  hold 
incense  which  was  to  be  offered  before  the 
heathen  idols,  he  lost  the  chance  to  work  in 
private  homes.  But  he  was  a  good  basket 
maker — none  could  make  a  better  basket  than 
he — and  thus  he  was  able  to  find  enough  work 
to  keep  him  from  begging,  and  he  was  happy. 

One  day  he  went  to  a  rich  home  with  his 
stock  of  baskets,  and  the  Chinese  ladies,  with 
their  little  feet,  crowded  around  him  and 
asked  him  to  make  some  special  baskets  for 
holding  incense.  The  house  was  being  re- 
decorated, and  they  wanted  everything  as 
nice  as  could  be.  Neng-Kuei  did  not  notice 
a  workman  away  up  near  the  ceiling  decorat- 
202 


In  a  Chinese  Guest  Hall  203 

ing  the  guest  hall,  but  he  knew  that  when  he 
refused  to  make  the  incense  baskets,  the 
Chinese  ladies  were  very  angry. 

"  What !  Not  make  baskets  for  holding 
incense?  Refuse  an  order  for  anything  to 
be  used  in  the  service  of  the  gods  ?  " 

They  were  very  angry  and  the  painter 
pricked  up  his  ears  to  listen. 

**  Do  not  be  angry,  ladies,"  replied  the 
basket  maker.  **  I  am  sorry  not  to  comply 
with  your  wishes,  but  I  cannot  make  or  sell 
anything  for  the  worship  of  idols." 

"And  why  not?  Why  not?"  said  the 
ladies,  who  were  more  surprised  than  ever. 

*'  Because,"  said  Neng-Kuei,  "  I  am  a  be- 
liever in  the  Lord  Jesus." 

The  painter  stopped  his  work  to  listen. 

"  I  am  a  believer  in  the  Lord  Jesus,"  said 
the  basket  maker,  **  and  a  worshipper  of  the 
true  and  living  God." 

And  while  the  ladies  listened  he  told  them 
all  about  Jesus,  and  the  God  who  is  over 
all,  until  they  grew  restless  and  impatient, 
and  tottered  ofif  on  their  tiny  feet  to  their 
rooms,  angry  and  indignant. 

*  *  *  -x-  *  * 

**  What  was  that  you  were  saying  ?  " 

The  voice  came  from  up  near  the  ceiling. 
It  was  the  painter. 


204    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

"  You  did  not  see  me,"  said  Wang,  for 
that  was  his  name.  **  I  am  painting  up 
here.  What  was  it  you  were  saying?  I 
heard,  but  tell  me  again." 

And  there  in  that  rich  home,  in  the  great 
guest  hall,  where  the  ladies  of  the  house  had 
heard,  but  had  not  heeded  the  wondrous 
message,  Wang  heard,  for  himself,  the  beau- 
tiful story  of  the  love  of  God.  He  heard 
and  heeded  and  Wang  Lue-djun  became  a 
true  and  trusted  follower   of  the  Master. 

In  that  beautiful  Chinese  guest  hall  that 
day  the  Master  Himself  had  come  as  a 
guest,  and  was  welcomed,  not  by  the  ladies 
of  the  home,  but  by  the  workman,  whom  no 
one  but  He  seemed  to  see.  It  is  often  so. 
Jesus  often  comes  to  the  place  where  people 
welcome  their  friends,  and  He,  the  greatest 
friend  of  all,  is  neglected. 

**  O  Jesus,  Thou  art  standing. 
Outside  the  fast  closed  door, 
In  lowly  patience  waiting 
To  cross  the  threshold  o'er : 
We  bear  the  name  of  Christian ; 
His  name  and  sign  we  bear : 
Oh,  shame,  thrice  shame  upon  us, 
To  keep  Him  standing  there." 


LII 

A  Christmas  Story 

"  He  gave  Himself." — Galatians  ii.  20. 

On  the  west  coast  of  Africa  there  is  a  mis- 
sionary station  in  which  I  have  always  been 
greatly  interested.  Years  ago  a  young  man 
from  Western  Pennsylvania  went  there  as  a 
missionary.  His  name  was  Adolphus  C. 
Good.  He  collected  many  beautiful  speci- 
mens of  butterflies  and  bugs  of  all  kinds,  and 
if  you  go  to  the  Carnegie  Museum  in  Pitts- 
burgh you  can  see  them  there ;  and  my 
friend,  Dr.  Holland,  the  director  of  the 
Museum,  says  that  Dr.  Good  showed  more 
skill  in  collecting  and  investigating  African 
wild  life  than  any  other  one  before  his 
day.  It  was  he  who  visited  the  dwarfs, 
the  little  odd  people  of  Africa,  in  their  own 
villages,  and  then  told  such  quaint  stories 
about  them.  But  it  is  not  about  Dr.  Good 
I  want  to  tell,  but  about  a  little  African  girl 
of  that  mission  who  was  won  out  of  sav- 
agery, and  who  became  a  sweet  and  beauti- 
ful Christian  girl. 

It  was  Christmas  Day  and  she  had  come 

205 


2o6    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

with  all  the  negro  Christians  to  the  mission 
to  celebrate  the  Lord's  birthday.  They  did 
not  come  to  receive  presents  from  the  mis- 
sion nor  from  each  other.  They  came  to 
bring  to  Him,  whose  birthday  it  was,  the 
best  gift  they  had.  After  the  service  of 
prayer  and  praise  was  over  and  they  had 
sung  about  Jesus,  just  as  we  do  on  Christ- 
mas, the  people  came  forward  in  a  long  pro- 
cession to  the  front  of  the  church,  each  one 
laying  in  the  hands  of  the  minister  the  gifts 
that  had  been  brought  for  the  Saviour  and 
His  work. 

They  were  very,  very  poor,  and  their  gifts 
were  very  humble.  Perhaps  we  would  have 
smiled  had  we  been  there,  but  they  were  all 
given  in  great  love;  and  their  gifts  were 
generous,  for  they  brought  them  out  of  deep 
poverty.  You  remember  Jesus  said  the 
woman  who  had  given  two  mites  had  given 
more  than  the  rich,  for  Jesus  counts  not  what 
we  give  but  what  we  have  left,  and  she  had 
nothing  left.     She  had  given  everything. 

These  poor  people  of  Africa  brought,  some 
of  them,  a  handful  of  vegetables,  or  a  hand- 
ful of  flowers,  or  a  penny.  Among  the 
Christian  givers  that  year  there  was  a  new 
face.  I  do  not  know  her  name.  We  will 
call  her  Queen.     She  was  a  fine-looking  girl 


A  Christmas  Story  207 

of  sixteen.  She  had  been  an  idol  wor- 
shipper, and  from  under  her  old  dress  she 
brought  forth  a  silver  coin  and  put  it  in 
the  hand  of  the  missionary.  It  was  worth 
eighty-five  cents.  He  was  so  surprised  and 
amazed  at  her  gift  that  at  first  he  refused  to 
take  it,  and  told  her  to  come  to  him  after 
the  service,  when  she  could  tell  him  quietly 
where  she  had  gotten  such  a  fortune,  for  he 
feared  she  had  perhaps  stolen  it.  What  was 
his  surprise  to  find  that,  in  order  to  give 
Jesus  an  offering  that  would  satisfy  her 
heart,  she  had  sold  herself  to  a  neighbour- 
ing planter  as  a  slave  for  the  rest  of  her  life 
for  this  eighty-five  cents,  and  had  brought 
all  of  it — every  cent — and  laid  it  down  at  the 
feet  of  her  dear  Lord,  who  had  redeemed  her 
from  a  worse  slavery  than  that  would  be  into 
which  she  had  sold  herself. 

I  do  not  know  what  the  missionary  did, 
for  he  could  not  allow  her  to  be  a  slave  to 
any  one,  and  I  suppose  he  himself  bought 
her  freedom  again  for  her ;  but  I  know  that 
there  was  a  great  love  in  her  heart,  and  I 
am  wondering  if  there  is  a  better  Christian 
in  all  the  world  than  this  little  black  Queen 
who  was  willing  to  give  herself,  because  of 
her  great  love,  so  that  through  her  gift 
others  might  be  told  the  great  and  wonder- 


2o8    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

ful  story  of  Christmas  and  the  gift  of  God's 
love  to  the  world.  For  the  gift  of  God  to 
the  world  was  not  one  of  gold,  nor  silver, 
nor  riches  of  any  kind,  but  of  love.  He 
gave  Himself.  All  true  life  gives.  We  must 
give  if  we  want  to  live, 

"  I  looked  upon  a  sea 
And  lo  !  'twas  dead, 
Although  by  Hermon's  snows 
And  Jordan  fed. 

**  How  came  a  fate  so  dire  ? 
The  tale's  soon  told. 
All  that  it  got  it  kept 
And  fast  did  hold. 

**  All  tributary  streams 

Found  here  their  grave, 
Because  that  sea  received 
But  never  gave. 

<«  O  sea  that's  dead  !  teach  me 
To  know  and  feel 
That  selfish  grasp  and  greed 
My  doom  will  seal. 

«« And  help  me,  Lord,  my  best, 
Myself  to  give. 
That  I  may  others  bless 
And  like  Thee  live." 


UII 

The  Boy  Who  Answered  "  Ready !  " 

"  Here  am  I." — Isaiah  vi.  8. 

I  SUPPOSE  you  wonder  sometimes  where 
all  the  missionaries  come  from  !  Of  course 
they  come  from  our  homes  and  churches 
and  Sunday-schools  and  colleges  ;  and  then, 
too,  they  also  come  from  the  great  missionary 
organization  that  tries  to  supply  the  mission 
field  with  workers.  It  is  called  **  The  Student 
Volunteer  Movement."  It  holds  a  great  con- 
vention once  every  four  years,  and  meets 
usually  during  the  Christmas  holidays  when 
the  students  are  free  to  attend.  Every  col- 
lege and  seminary  and  university  sends  one 
or  more  of  its  students,  and  there  they  hear 
about  the  great  work  that  is  being  done  in 
taking  the  Gospel  to  every  land ;  and  then 
many  of  them  decide  to  become  volunteers. 
They  promise,  if  the  way  opens,  that  after 
they  have  finished  their  education  they  will 
go  as  missionaries. 

Let  me  tell  you  a  story  that  was  told  at 
the  great  convention  which  was  held  at 
209 


210    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

Nashville,  in  1906,  after  which  many  young 
men  and  women  became  volunteers.  It  was 
told  by  my  friend,  Dr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  who 
is  not  a  missionary  himself,  but  is  a  maker  of 
missionaries.  This  is  the  story  :  "  I  went  a 
few  weeks  ago  out  to  Bellefonte,  Pennsyl- 
vania, to  attend  the  dedication  of  the  gym- 
nasium built  there  in  memory  of  Hugh  Mc- 
Allister Beaver;  and,  as  I  came  away,  his 
father  gave  me  the  history  of  his  regiment 
in  the  Civil  War,  the  148th  Pennsylvania 
Volunteers.  It  seems  to  me  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  historical  books  that  has  grown 
out  of  that  great  struggle.  It  is  the  story  of 
this  one  regiment  told  by  different  people — 
by  the  brigade  commander,  by  the  colonel, 
by  the  adjutant,  by  the  ambulance  officer, 
by  the  captains  of  the  companies,  by  the  pri- 
vate soldiers  themselves — and  one  of  the  first 
chapters  of  all  is  entitled,  *  The  Sister's  Story.* 
It  is  a  story  of  how  some  of  the  lads  of  the 
regiment  came  to  be  enrolled.  It  was  in  the 
year  1862.  President  Lincoln  had  issued  a 
call  for  300,000  men  and  then  a  call  for 
300,000  more,  and  the  War  Department  had 
drawn  up  provisions  for  a  draft  in  case  the 
men  were  not  voluntarily  offered ;  and  this 
one  county  in  Pennsylvania  did  not  wish  to 
stand  under  the  ignominy  of  a  draft,  but  de- 


The  Boy  Who  Answered  "  Ready ! ''   211 

sired  that  the  men  who  were  to  go  from  that 
county  should  offer  themselves  freely  in  re- 
sponse to  that  call. 

"  This  sister  tells  how  the  appeal  came  to 
the  little  village  in  which  she  and  her  brother 
lived,  in  Center  County,  Pennsylvania.  There 
was  a  small  country  academy  there ;  the  sum- 
mer vacation  was  just  over,  and  the  boys  and 
girls  had  come  back  again  from  the  farms 
for  the  first  day  of  the  academy  year.  She 
said  that  she  came  walking  up  the  village 
street  with  a  friend  of  hers,  another  little 
child,  and  as  they  came  up  the  pathway 
through  the  yard  of  the  school,  arm  in  arm, 
with  a  little  bunch  of  flowers  held  in  both 
their  hands,  and  their  heads  bowed  down 
very  close  together,  as  little  girls  often  talk 
with  one  another,  confidentially,  they  were 
suddenly  impressed  with  the  silence  of  the 
school  yard.  Instead  of  the  noise  of  play 
and  the  chatter  of  an  opening  day  at  school, 
all  the  boys  and  the  girls  were  sitting  quietly 
on  the  school  stoop ;  and  when  they  came  up 
they  asked  the  older  boys  what  the  trouble 
was.  Were  there  any  specially  dark  tidings 
from  the  war?  And  they  said:  No,  it  was 
not  that ;  but  Professor  Patterson  had  de- 
cided to  enlist  and  he  wanted  to  know  how 
inany  of  the  boys  of  the  school  would  go 


212    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

with  him,  and  a  meeting  was  to  be  held  in 
the  village  church  that  evening  in  which  they 
were  all  to  be  given  an  opportunity  to  say 
what  they  would  do.  She  said  that  at  once 
she  left  her  little  companion  and  sought  out 
her  brother,  and  she  said  to  him,  *  Harry, 
are  you  going  to  enlist  ? '  and  he  said  yes, 
he  thought  he  would.  After  they  reached 
home  his  mother  said :  *  You  are  only  six- 
teen years  old ;  you  cannot  enlist  without 
father's  allowing  you  to  go,  and  you  know 
how  we  have  all  built  on  you,  on  your 
brightness,  and  are  making  sacrifices  at 
home  in  order  that  you  might  go  to  college. 
You  must  not  go  away  now  to  the  war.* 
He  insisted  that  when  the  opportunity  came 
he  was  afraid  he  would  have  to  respond. 
And  the  sister  tells  how  that  night  in  the 
little  village  church,  when  Mr.  McAllister  of 
Bellefonte  made  his  appeal  for  volunteers, 
and  had  finished,  the  principal  of  the  acad- 
emy rose  with  a  long  paper  in  his  hand ;  and 
her  little  girlish  heart  almost  stopped  beating 
when  she  realized  what  it  was  that  he  was 
going  to  do,  and  then  when  he  had  made 
his  careful,  simple  statement  as  to  the  pur- 
poses that  led  him,  and  the  motives  that  con- 
strained him,  he  said  he  was  going  to  call 
the  school  roll,  and  every  boy  who  wanted 


The  Boy  Who  Answered  "  Ready  1 "   213 

to,  could  respond  *  Ready  *  to  his  name.  In 
a  silence  like  the  silence  of  death  he  began 
at  the  top  of  the  line  :  *  Andrews,'  *  Ready  *  ; 
*  Baker,'  *  Ready ' ;  and  when  he  came  to 
'  K,'  the  little  girl  said  her  breath  just  abso- 
lutely stopped,  and  when  the  name  Keller 
was  called,  she  heard  a  clear,  boyish  voice 
answer  without  a  tremor,  *  Ready,'  to  his 
name." 

After  Dr.  Speer  told  this  interesting  story 
he  said  there  was  One  present  with  them  in 
the  convention,  even  Jesus,  and  He  was  call- 
ing their  names  and  asking  them  to  answer 
whether  they  would  go  forth  into  the  world, 
not  to  fight  and  to  kill,  but  to  help  and  to 
heal  and  to  save,  and  more  than  one  that 
day  said  :  **  Ready  I     Here  am  I ;  send  me  ! " 

I  wonder,  when  He  calls  you,  if  you  too 
will  say,  *'  Ready  1     Here  am  I ;  send  me  T' 

"  Hark  !  the  voice  of  Jesus  crying, 

*  Who  will  go  and  work  to-day  ? 
Fields  are  white,  and  harvests  waiting; 
Who  will  bear  the  sheaves  away  ?  * 
Loud  and  long  the  Master  calleth, 
Rich  reward  He  offers  free  ; 

Who  will  answer,  gladly  saying, 

•  Here  am  I ;  send  me,  send  nae.* " 


LIV 

The  Children  of  Everyland 

"  Boys  and  girls  playing  in  the  streets." 
— Zechariah  viii.  5. 

Children  are  children  all  the  world  over. 
When  Jesus  said,  "  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  Me,"  He  meant  the  children 
not  of  America  only,  but  the  children  o! 
everyland.  They  need  the  same  Savioui 
and  the  same  love  and  the  same  good  time 
that  all  children  everywhere  need. 

In  China,  if  you  will  look  you  will  find  that 
the  children  love  the  Mother  Goose  rhymes 
and  jingles  just  like  our  little  children.  They 
have  a  Chinese  Mother  Goose  Book,  too, 
and  in  it  they  have  some  rhymes  that  we 
ought  to  know.     Here  is  one : 

"  This  little  cow  eats  grass ; 
This  little  cow  eats  hay; 
This  little  cow  drinks  water; 
This  little  cow  runs  away. 

This  little  cow  does  nothing, 

But  just  lies  down  all  day; 

We  will  whip  her." 

And  the  Chinese  mothers  and  big  sisters  say 
214 


The  Children  of  Every  land        215 

and  sing  it  while  they  count  the  toes  on 
baby's  foot,  and  when  they  come  to  the  little 
toe,  which  "  does  nothing,  but  just  lies  down 
all  day,"  they  play  with  it,  and  when  they 
say,  "  we  will  whip  her,"  they  playfully  slap 
the  sole  of  the  little  baby's  foot,  and  then 
they  all  laugh. 

In  Japan,  on  the  third  day  of  the  third 
month,  the  little  Japanese  girls  hold  "The 
Feast  of  Dolls,"  when  all  the  house  is  turned 
into  a  great  playroom,  and  all  the  great  and 
small  dolls  are  on  exhibition.  There  are  silver 
dolls  and  china  dolls,  and  dolls  that  look 
like  the  emperor,  and  dolls  that  look  like  the 
empress,  dolls  that  sit  on  the  floor  and  dolls 
that  sit  on  a  throne,  dolls  a  hundred  years 
old  and  dolls  of  only  yesterday,  and  for  three 
long  happy  days  the  dolls  are  the  centre  of 
interest,  for  it  is  "The  Feast  of  Dolls." 
Then  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  fifth  month 
the  Japanese  boys  celebrate  "  The  Feast  of 
Flags."  They  have  little  figures  of  national 
heroes  on  red  covered  shelves,  and  behind 
each  hero  is  a  flag.  The  flower  of  the  day  is 
the  iris,  or  the  flag  of  the  field,  because  its 
leaves  are  sword  shaped,  and  the  boys  long 
most  of  all  to  be  soldiers  like  the  brave  old 
heroes  of  Japan. 

In  Africa  the  black  children  love  to  play 


2i6    Children's  Missionary  Story-Sermons 

like  other  children,  but  many  of  them  have 
had  no  chance,  and  children  must  have  a 
chance  to  play.  God  meant  children  to  play, 
and  in  the  Bible  we  read  that  in  the  coming 
City  of  God  boys  and  girls  will  be  playing  in 
the  streets.  Playing  and  praying  are  like 
twin  sisters,  and  ought  always  to  be  found 
together.  Some  of  the  African  children  have 
never  seen  such  a  thing  as  a  doll.  Think  of 
that !  One  of  the  missionaries  from  Togo- 
land  tells  that  when  the  first  two  dolls  came 
to  the  mission  house,  the  children  were 
afraid  of  them  and  ran  crying  to  their 
mothers.  After  a  while  they  grew  to  like 
them  and  would  take  turns  in  borrowing 
them  for  a  day  at  a  time,  just  as  we  borrow 
books  from  the  library.  The  missionary  told 
her  friends  about  the  children's  love  for  the 
dolls,  and  the  mission  bands  in  England 
dressed  a  hundred  dolls  and  sent  them  to 
Africa.  When  they  arrived  there  was  great 
excitement  and  a  real  doll  show  was  arranged. 
All  the  dolls  were  put  out  on  the  veranda,  and 
men  and  women,  old  men  and  old  women  and 
little  children,  came  to  enjoy  the  rare  sight. 
Everybody  wanted  a  doll,  and  when  the  boys 
found  that  only  the  girls  received  the  great 
gift  of  a  doll,  they  dressed  up  in  their  sisters' 
clothes  and  tried  to  pretend  they  were  girls, 


The  Children  of  Everyland         217 

so  they  too  might  have  a  doll  to  play  with. 
The  old  king  of  the  country,  King  Kasagama, 
took  the  little  doll  that  had  been  dressed  as  a 
bride  for  his  own  little  daughter,  the  negro 
princess  Ruth,  and  kept  it  locked  in  his  room 
so  he  could  play  with  it  himself.  They  were 
all  so  happy,  and  wherever  the  Christian 
missionaries  have  gone  in  Africa  and  India 
and  China,  child  life  has  been  made  sweeter 
and  happier.  The  Gospel  of  jesus  is  for  little 
children.  He  loves  the  children  of  every- 
land. They  are  singing  to-day  in  nearly  all 
the  languages  on  earth  the  hymn  we  sing, 
"  Jesus  loves  me,  this  I  know.'*  And  we  too 
are  trying  to  tell  the  story  of  His  love  to  all 
the  world.  I  would  like  the  children  of  all 
our  mission  circles  and  Sunday-schools  to 
learn  to  sing  the  children's  missionary  song : 
"  The  World's  Children  for  Jesus."  This  is 
the  first  verse : 

The  cunning  papoose  in  the  wigwam  that  lives, 
Whose  life  is  so  happy  and  free, 

Is  my  Indian  brother ;  and  Jesus  loves  him 
Just  as  He  loves  you  and  me. 

And  now  you  will  wish  to  know  all  the 
verses  and  the  beautiful  music,  and  here  they 
ure: 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America  4 


^be  OTorlD  CbU&ren  for  3cB\is. 


'For  of  soch  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

jJbavQBzct  Coote  Xtovnu 


1.  The  cunning  papoose  in  the  wigwam  that  lives,  Whose  life  is  so  happy  and  free, 

2.  The    Es  -  ki-mo  babies  are  wrapped  all  in  fur;  They  live  in  the  north  country, 

3.  The    lit-tle  Jap  babies,  with  shining  dark  eyes,  Live  on  a  green  isle  in  the  sea; 

4.  The  pretty  brown  babies  who  roll  in  the  sand,  In  a  country  far  over  the     sea, 

5.  And  all  the  dear  babies,  wherever  they  grow ,  So  cunning,  so  precious,  so  wge. 


Is  my 
Where 
Too 
Are  my 
Are 


In  -  di  -  an  broth-er;  and  Je  -  sua  loves  him  Just  as  He  loves  you  and  me. 

cold       winds  blow;     and  Je  -  bus  loves  them  Just  as  He  loves  you  and  me, 

man-y      to     count;    and  Je  -  bus  loves  them  Just  as  He  loves  you  and  me. 

Af  -  ri  -  can  brothers;  and  Je  •*sus  loves  them  Just  as  He  loves  you  and  me. 

God's  darling  children:  and  Je  -  sus  loves  them  Just  as  Helovesyou  and  me. 


world         chil  dren  for  Je  -  sus  who  loves  them,  Who  loves      ev  -    'ry     one . 


7909f  ba  Margvet  Coott  Brown, 


Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  01026  8987 


